why do you think resevation for dalits and women is important in parliament
Answers
There is now a considerable body of work on the impact of increased women's representation in parliaments. The majority of this work has been based on case studies of individual Western countries. For example, Squires and Wickham-Jones have reviewed the studies of the increased female presence in the British House of Commons, and they categorise the effects under the headings of policy style, agenda and outcomes.5 In terms of policy style, the review suggests that women tend to work more behind the scenes, rather than relying on direct challenges in the debating chamber; they have also been shown to be more loyal to the party line than male Labour MPs (though it has not been shown whether this is a sign of a distinctive female consensual style of politics, or a result of negative pressure on the women to conform). By contrast, women MPs had little success in changing the ‘adversarial’ culture of the parliament, or in other areas such as altering work hours or introducing childcare facilities. As regards the policy agenda, it is suggested that women were likely to raise issues of equality, education, women's relatively poor economic position, childcare, violence against women and integration of gender into the issues of employment and pay. However, in terms of policy outcomes, the few initiatives that were considered successes for the women (such as the development of the National Childcare Strategy) were in areas that dovetailed with existing government policy. The evidence from the UK shows mixed results of greater women's representation in parliament with few distinct women's-oriented policy-related outcomes.