Political Quotas in India Perceptions of Constituent Political Representation

India has had political quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs) since 1950. Using the 2004 National Election Study, this paper finds that neither SCs nor non-SCs feel that their vote is more/less efficacious living in SC constituencies. Yet, some evidence is found in this study that SCs are approached for their vote more often in SC constituencies. Overall, this suggests that quotas are neither associated with a strong positive reaction among SC voters nor a strong negative reaction among non-SC voters.