Given BB’s death anniversary on Dec 27, and all kinds of recent spotlight on Maryam Nawaz, I’ve been thinking about the gendered nature of dynastic politics in PK, and the research that has helped me understand it. 🧵/1

I explored this a bit in my chapter on women’s exclusion from electoral politics in a volume on Pakistan’s Political Parties edited by @NiloSiddiqui @sahar_shafqat & Mariam Mufti https://t.co/bKIlD0smTF

The book is out now in PK via @foliobooks: https://t.co/tLKsKs0fWD /2
Here’s a figure from that chapter. The pattern extends beyond BB & MNS; women elected representatives with family connections make up a starkly high proportion of all women in national & provincial assemblies. There’s a gender gap in dynastic connections /3
Family connections are on the one hand a "channel" for women, otherwise excluded, to enter a very very male dominated space of national and provincial level politics. At the same time, the *lack* of such connections poses a much higher barrier for women than it does for men. /4
This isn’t a Pakistan specific pattern by any means. Amrita Basu explores this in her excellent chapter "Women, dynasties, and democracy in India" in a volume on Democratic Dynasties edited by Kanchan Chandra https://t.co/ZcRRKyvrrl /5
It isn’t South Asia specific either. An amazing paper by @OlleFolke @johannarickne
& @ProfDanSmith, which I love and cite in my chapter, explores this question in the case of Sweden and Ireland. Just out now: /6
https://t.co/mxThqdlGGR
A key finding of this paper is that the trend of women being more likely than men to enter politics through family connections (what they call “dyanastic bias”) fades over time as more and more women enter. /7
their theory predicts (and they find evidence) that as more and more women enter politics, parties and voters will gain greater information about women politicians' and the reliance on political connections as a signal decreases, allowing more "non-dynastic" women to enter /8
So to the people who are Suddenly Very Concerned about Pakistani women politicians’ dynastic backgrounds: one possible way to change this is to fight for actual policies and social changes that will make it easier for more women, and more kinds of women to enter politics. /9
In the chapter, I suggest some ways to think about the role of family for women's presence in (lack thereof) in electoral politics outside of just family connections. /10
i was trying to summarize that part succinctly but failed so here is a screenshot, sorry ! /11
this is not specific to politics. it describes how "family" mediates women's entry, presence and absence from the public sphere more broadly

however these tendencies may amplified in electoral politics, esp. national & provincial, because of its highly public nature /12
all to say, the issue of the gendered role of family in politics is complex and fascinating.

many open questions for research, lots to learn from the experiences of Pakistani women politicians and candidates, lots to learn from research on this in other contexts. 12/12

More from World

1/10 With respect, multiple straw men here:
A) If you mean by "legally questionable" either that Senate is barred by constitution from trying an official impeached while in office, or that there are even very strong arguments against it, I have to differ...


2/10 Constitutional structure, precedent & any fair reading of original intent dictate that argument for jurisdiction is far stronger than argument against. On original intent, see

3/10 If you mean argument against jurisdiction is plausible, sure, it's plausible. It's just weak. In practical fact, Senate can try Trump now, find him guilty & disqualify him from future office if there are sufficient votes. And no court would presume to overturn that result

4/10 b) The argument from resources is awfully hard to take seriously. Fewer than a dozen House members act as Managers for a few weeks. They are staffed, as are Senators hearing case, by folks whose job it is to do stuff like this...

5/10 Yes, Senate floor time will be taken up. But it's past time for us to stop thinking of members of either house as feeble, fluttering, occupants of a nationally-funded convalescent home. There are nearly 500 of these people with 1000s of staff and a bunch of big buildings...
I'll bite, Mr. Gray. We can even play by your rather finicky rules.

Let's begin with some of the things you have said about Xinjiang, notably absent from your more recent media appearances, but still present in your blog about your 2014 biking trip.


The following is taken from an ongoing list I keep of people who have been to Xinjiang and written/spoken about their experiences. It is separate from the testimony of detainees and their relatives I also keep. Jerry is on this

Jerry, your article for CGTN, as well as your various Medium pieces, belabor themselves to emphasize the smoothness of your time in Xinjiang. Why did you leave out so many details from your log of your 2014 trip? They seem relevant.

For example, would CGTN not let you speak about Shanshan, the town that evidently disturbed you so much?


Why, pray tell, after noting how kind and hospitable Xinjiang police were to you in 2019 for CGTN—and how you were never told where you could or could not go—would you omit these details?
Watch the entire discussion if you have the time to do so. But if not, please make sure to watch Edhem Eldem summarizing ~150 years of democracy in Turkey in 6 minutes (starting on 57'). And if you can't watch it, fear not; I've transcribed it for you (as public service). Thread:


"Let me start by saying that I am a historian, I see dead people. But more seriously, I am constantly torn between the temptation to see patterns developing over time, and the fear of hasty generalizations and anachronistic comparisons. 1/n

"Nevertheless, the present situation forces me to explore the possible historical dimensions of the problem we're facing today. 2/n

"(...)I intend to go further back in time and widen the angle in order to focus on the confusion I  believe exists between the notions of 'state', 'government', and 'public institutions' in Turkey. 3/n

"In the summer of 1876, that's a historical quote, as Midhat Pasa was trying to draft a constitution, Edhem Pasa wrote to Saffet Pasa, and I quote in Turkish, 'Bize Konstitusyon degil enstitusyon lazim' ('It is not a constitution we need but institutions'). 4/n

You May Also Like