The Impact of Gender Quotas on Women's Political Representation in Pakistan

Abstract

For a long time already, Pakistan's framing legislation included gender quotas as a tool to improve women's capacity to influence political decision-making in the country's very patriarchal society. The study explores the impact of reserved seats for women (under the Legal Framework Order of 2002) on the representation of women at various levels of governance – national, provincial and local – and its impact on substantive representation. Quotas have brought more women into parliamentary institutions, but important issues remain as to whether this has resulted in any kind of substantive impact on women's political agency, political influence and autonomy in legislation. The article builds on theories of institution to explaining the limitations of quota-driven representation, caused by structural conditions such as party gatekeeping, feudal power relations, limited financial resources and socio-cultural customs, which exclude women from political representation. Also, the concept of descriptive and substantive representation is examined and analyzed to determine the role of women Legislators in the advocacy of gender responsive policies. Finally, the study highlights the need to include complementary action on electoral mechanisms, political institutions and civic education to make gender quotas effective for transformative political empowerment of women in Pakistan.