GV341      Half Unit
Politics, Gender, and Development

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Additional requisites:

Familiarity with basic research design, data science, and/or statistics as covered by Research Design in Political Science (GV249) or an equivalent course (such as ST102, ST107, ST108, GY140, SA201) is helpful but not necessary.

This course explores the intersection of gender, politics, and development, examining how political institutions shape gender disparities across different domains, including governance, economic participation, criminal justice, education, and health. While gender is often discussed in relation to political representation, this course takes a broader approach, considering the structural and institutional factors that influence gender inequality and the effectiveness of policies designed to address these disparities. Key questions addressed in the course include: How does the presence of women in political institutions impact policy outcomes? What institutional barriers prevent gender equality in governance and public life? How do legal and law enforcement systems shape access to justice for women and marginalized communities? What policies have been effective in reducing gender-based violence, improving educational access, and closing wage gaps? The course draws from empirical research in political science and development economics, with a strong emphasis on methodological rigor. Students will engage with studies using causal inference techniques, field experiments, and survey data to evaluate gender disparities and policy interventions. The readings cover diverse geographic contexts, including case studies from Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and Europe, ensuring a truly comparative perspective. By the end of the course, students will not only have a strong understanding of how political institutions shape gender outcomes but also be equipped with analytical tools to assess real-world policy interventions aimed at promoting equality.

20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Essay plan

As a formative assessment, students will be expected to produce an outline for their final essay. This will enable them to gain feedback about their essay and, alternatively, their research question or methodology for their summative assessment.

• Chattopadhyay, Raghabendra, and Esther Duflo. 2004. “Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India.” Econometrica 72 (5): 1409–43.
• Alesina, Alberto, Paola Giuliano, and Nathan Nunn. 2013. “On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough *.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 128 (2): 469–530.
• Mendelberg, Tali, Christopher F. Karpowitz, and Nicholas Goedert. 2014. “Does Descriptive Representation Facilitate Women’s Distinctive Voice? How Gender Composition and Decision Rules Affect Deliberation.” American Journal of Political Science 58 (2): 291–306.
• Bos, Angela L., Jill S. Greenlee, Mirya R. Holman, Zoe M. Oxley, and J. Celeste Lay. 2022. “This One’s for the Boys: How Gendered Political Socialization Limits Girls’ Political Ambition and Interest.” American Political Science Review 116 (2): 484–501.
• Carrell, Scott E., Marianne E. Page, and James E. West. 2010. “Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 125 (3): 1101–44.

Essay (100%, 3000 words)

The summative assessment comprises one final take-home essay which will be either (a) an essay on the readings or, alternatively, (b) on an original research topic following discussion with the convenor.