Discussant: Amanda B. Clayton, Vanderbilt University
Tanushree Goyal is a fourth and final year PhD candidate at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Goyal is also an academy scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University. Starting in Fall 2022, she will join Princeton University as an Assistant Professor in Politics and International Affairs.
Her research interests lie at the intersections of comparative politics, gender, and development with a regional focus in South Asia. Goyal's dissertation uses natural, survey and quasi-experiments to examine important questions in the field of representation and accountability and is set in the context of the World's largest democracy - India. It shows how female politicians affect change by influencing intra-party politics in the context of India's urban cities. Female politicians incorporate women as intermediaries and establish cross-electoral level networks to influence political campaigns and party decisions. This "representation from below" fundamentally alters party politics and democracy for good.
A working paper is available by email request to Medha Mathur.