Francesca R. Jensenius
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Francesca R. Jensenius was a Research Professor (part time) at NUPI.
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Clear all filtersPolitical Change, Women’s Rights, and Public Opinion on Gender Equality in Myanmar
Myanmar’s introduction of competitive elections after decades of military rule raised expectations for progress in economic and social development, including in the area of women’s rights. In this paper, we draw on data from two national surveys, interviews, and existing qualitative studies to explore public opinion on women’s rights and gender equality. Do Burmese people support gender equality? How are their views on gender related to other aspects of political culture, such as traditional values and views toward authoritarianism and democracy? Our objective is to gain better understanding of the opportunities and obstacles to egalitarian social change and democratic consolidation. Our analysis of survey data reveals that attitudes toward gender roles are conservative, traditional and anti-democratic beliefs are widespread, and these views are strongly associated. Our findings imply that tendencies in public opinion provide a resource for Burmese nationalist groups and politicians and an obstacle to activists seeking greater alignment with global norms on gender equality.
Fighting Violence Against Women: Laws, Norms & Challenges Ahead
In the 1990s and 2000s, pressure from feminist movements and allies succeeded in pushing scores of states to reform their laws to prevent and punish violence against women (VAW). Even in states with progressive legislation, however, activists face challenges to induce citizens to comply with the law, compel state authorities to enforce the law, and ensure the adequate allocation of resources for social support services. In this essay, we take stock of legislative developments related to VAW around the world, with a focus on the variation in approaches toward intimate partner violence and sexual harassment. We analyze efforts to align behavior with progressive legislation, and end with a discussion of the balance activists must strike between fighting VAW aggressively with the carceral and social support dimensions of state power, while exercising some restraint to avoid the potentially counterproductive effects of state action.
Voting for development? Ruling coalitions and literacy in India
Across the world, governments skew the distribution of state resources for political gain. But does such politicisation of resource allocation affect development trajectories in the long run? We focus on the long-term effects of voting for the ruling coalition on primary education in India. Using a close-election instrumental variable design and drawing on a new socio-economic dataset of India's state assembly constituencies in 1971 and 2001, we examine whether areas represented by members of ruling coalitions experienced greater increases in literacy over 30 years. We find no evidence of this being the case, in the overall data or in relevant sub-samples. The null results are precisely estimated, and are consistent across OLS and 2SLS specifications and several robustness checks. These findings suggest the politicised distribution of some funds in the short run does not affect long-term development trajectories.
Introduction to Special Issue of Social Politics: Legal Regimes, Women’s Work, and Women’s Empowerment
The second-wave feminist movement called attention to the endurance of discriminatory laws that deny women equal rights and opportunities. Since the 1970s, most countries around the world responded to feminist demands and reformed family law, labor law, reproductive rights, national constitutions, and the welfare state. Yet almost nowhere do women enjoy the same status, power, and opportunities as men, and differences among women along the lines of class, racial identity, and region are pronounced. Why does the gap between women’s de jure and de facto status persist? Is there any connection between egalitarian laws and women’s agency on the ground? Which groups of women have benefited the most from the expansion of formal rights? What cultural practices and norms are most resistant to change? Are there unexpected, subtle, or contradictory ways in which legal change has shaped women’s work and women’s empowerment? The five papers in this Special Issue look at these questions in contexts from Sudan to Norway.
Valg i India: Få bastioner og mange svingninger
(Article available in Norwegian only): I forbindelse med valget i India hører man ofte at enkelte partier har såkalte bastioner – områder hvor de sanker inn spesielt mange stemmer. Hvor mye belegg er det for slike påstander?
Valg i India: Legitimitet og ansvarlighet i kompetitive valg
(This article is available in Norwegian only): Det er sterk konkurranse i Indiske nasjonalvalg. Indiske politikere vinner med mindre marginer enn kandidater i andre land med sammenlignbare valgsystemer, for eksempel Canada og Storbritannia. I et valgsystem som det indiske, med flertallsvalg i enkeltpersonskretser, trenger en kandidat minst 50 prosent pluss én av stemmene for å vinne dersom det bare er to kandidater som konkurrerer. Hvis det er tre kandidater, vil en kandidat trenge minst en tredjedel av stemmene pluss én stemme for å vinne. I India er det vanligvis mange kandidater som konkurrerer om hvert sete i nasjonalforsamlingen, noe som gjør det mulig for indiske politikere å bli valgt med en lav andel av stemmene. Dette kan ha konsekvenser for politikernes legitimitet og ansvarlighet som folkevalgte.
Hvem dominerer Indias nasjonale valg?
(Article available in Norwegian only): Antallet uavhengige kandidater har økt kraftig i India siden uavhengigheten i 1947, men hvor stor sannsynlighet har de for å vinne?
Valg i India: Utdanning, urbanisering og valgdeltakelse
(Article available in Norwegian only): India er kjent for å ha en ganske høy valgdeltakelse, men hvem stiller opp for å stemme i India, og hvorfor?
Valg i India: Lokale valg topper statistikken
(Article available in Norwegian only): Historisk sett har valg i India hatt en høy deltakelse på rundt 60 prosent, men i motsetning til de fleste andre demokratiske land stemmer flere indere i lokale valg enn i nasjonale valg. Hvorfor er det slik?
Valg i India: en representasjonskrise?
(Article in Norwegian only): Parlamentsvalget i India for 2019 nærmer seg, og de politiske kandidatene forbereder seg på å møte velgerne sine igjen. Et enkelt og viktig spørsmål følger: hvor mange mennesker representerer egentlig en indisk folkevalgt? Svaret er at i dagens India representerer et medlem av parlamentet (Lok Sabha) i gjennomsnitt 1.5 millioner stemmeberettigede, eller nærmere 2,5 millioner innbyggere. Dette er mer enn den totale befolkningen i over 50 av verdens stater, og nesten fire ganger så mange som en folkevalgt i India representerte under det første valget i 1952. Størrelsen på velgermassen som hvert enkelt parlamentsmedlem skal representere kan være med på å undergrave det representative demokratiet i India.