Women’s Participation at Local Level Politics: A Case Study on Nazirpur Upazilla
- Authors
-
-
Foisal Ahmed
Assistant Professor
Author
-
- Abstract
-
This study examines the factors, patterns and challenges regarding women’s participation in local level politics in Nazirpur Upazila. Based on Political Feminist Theory and Social Empowerment Theory, the study explores how social and cultural conditions influence women’s political involvement at the local level. Applying a mixed-methods explanatory approach, this study integrated a quantitative analysis of 100 purposively sampled respondents with nuanced qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews to provide a multi-dimensional perspective. Secondary data were gathered from academic literature, policy documents, and government reports. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics to identify associations between socio-cultural variables and levels of political participation complemented by thematic analysis to contextualize the findings.
The findings reveal a significant gender gap: while male participation stands at 65%, women’s direct engagement is limited to 30%. Furthermore, 67% of women reported that their voting choices are guided by their family opinions, reflecting a lack of individual political agency. The study identifies that patriarchal norms (77%), family restrictions, and limited political education are primary barriers to effective participation.
A key contribution of this research is the creation of a cause-effect framework that proves how specific social barriers directly lead to women being left out of politics. Based on these results, the study proposes two models: one showing the cycle of barriers and another showing how education and training can lead to empowerment. The main limitation is that the research focused only on one Upazila. Future research should compare different regions and use more advanced models to better understand women’s political empowerment across rural Bangladesh.
- Author Biography
- References
-
Amin, S. (1997). The poverty–purdah trap in rural Bangladesh: Implications for women’s roles in the family. Development and Change, 28(2), pp. 213–233.
Ara, F. (2020). Women’s Political Participation in Bangladesh: The Gender Wall and Quotas. Journal of South Asian Development, 15(2), pp. 157–177. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0262728020915562.
Bhuiyan, K. (2019). Women’s Political Participation in Bangladesh: A Local Government Level Analysis. International Journal of Advanced Research, 7(8), pp. 433–442. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/9521.
Bryson, V. (2003). Feminist political theory: An introduction. 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan.
Chowdhury, F. D. (2009). Problems of women's participation in Bangladesh politics. The Round Table, 98(404), pp. 555–567. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00358530903151748.
Civic Engagement. (n.d.). What is political participation? Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-political-participation-definition-forms-examples.html.
Constitution of Bangladesh. Part III: Fundamental Rights (Article 28: Equality of Citizens); Part V: The Legislature (reserved seats).
Easton, D. (1965). A framework for political analysis. Prentice-Hall.
Jahan, R. (1976). Purdah and participation: Women in politics in Bangladesh. Asian Survey, 16(10), pp. 891–900.
Kabeer, N. (1990). Poverty, purdah and women’s survival strategies in rural Bangladesh. Development and Change, 21(1), pp. 183–202.
Khan, A., & Salma, U. (2003). Women’s equal right to participate in governance in Bangladesh. In: Women’s Political Participation in Bangladesh, pp. 45–62. OIDP. Available at: https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc116.pdf.
Khan, S. (1988). The Fifty Percent: Women in Development and Policy in Bangladesh. University Press Limited.
Kurebwa, J. (2016). Political participation of rural women in decision-making at the local government level in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 1(2), pp. 33–43. Available at: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.1pdf.
Lasswell, H. D. (1936). Politics: Who gets what, when, how. Whittlesey House.
Mannan, M. A., & Khanam Meri, S. (2016). Nari o Rajniti. 3rd ed. Obosor Prokashona Songstha.
Mansbridge, J. (1999). Should blacks represent blacks and women represent women? A contingent “yes.” The Journal of Politics, 61(3), pp. 628–657. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/2647822.
OpenStax. (2022). What is political participation? Available at: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/5-1-what-is-political-participation.
Pitkin, H. F. (1967). The Concept of Representation. University of California Press.
Rahman, M. (2015). Contributions of women’s participation in the local government of Bangladesh. Sociology Mind, 5(3), pp. 200–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4236/sm.2015.53018.
Ullah, M. W. (2018). Local government in Bangladesh: Women's participation and empowerment. International Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 5(4), pp. 99–107. Available at: https://ijnss.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/IJNSS-V5I4-13-pp-99-107.pdf.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2015). Enhancing youth political participation throughout the electoral cycle: A good practice guide. Available at: https://www.undp.org/publications/enhancing-youth-political-participation-throughout-electoral-cycle.
United Way NCA. (2022). Social empowerment: Definition & theory. Available at: https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/social-empowerment/.
United Way NCA. (2025). Gender norms. Available at: https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/gender-norms/.
Website of Nazirpur Upazila. (n.d.). Nazirpur Upazila information. Available at: http://nazirpur.pirojpur.gov.bd
Women for Women, Ali, A., & Shawkat, M. (1999). Women’s participation in local government—OIDP. In: Women’s Participation in Local Government, pp. 101–120. Organization for International Democratic Participation. Available at: https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc116.pdf.
- Downloads
- Published
- 05/04/2026
- Section
- Articles