India faces a persistent gender gap in political participation. This study links that gap to the structure of women's political networks in patriarchal settings and evaluates whether expanding those networks changes women's political behavior.

🔎 Theory: Networks Explain Political Silence

A theoretical model argues that low female turnout and low public engagement stem from how women's political networks are organized under patriarchy. The network structure constrains opportunities for information sharing, recruitment, and coordinated action, producing a collective-level barrier to participation.

📊 Natural Experiment: Random-Like Access to Women-Only Credit Groups

The empirical strategy leverages a natural experiment that created as-if random variation in access to women-only credit groups. This variation isolates the impact of expanding women's social and economic networks without relying on self-selection.

📈 Key Findings: Large, Robust Increases in Participation

• Participation in women-only credit groups had a significant and substantial effect on political engagement.
• Women's attendance at public meetings doubled after gaining access to these groups.
• Evidence points to three mechanisms that plausibly drive this effect:
• larger networks, increasing the reach of political information;
• greater capacity for collective action within networks, enabling coordinated attendance and pressure;
• development of civic skills, enhancing confidence and know-how for public participation.

💡 Why It Matters: Networks, Policy, and Gendered Inequality

These results show that reorganizing everyday social and economic networks can alter political behavior and help close gendered participation gaps. The findings inform theories of political mobilization and suggest practical pathways—via women-focused group formation—for reducing gender inequality in political life.