Elected Women, Unelected Bureaucrats
Women Deputy Mayors and Bureaucratic Authority in Local Governments of Nepal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19222005 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anil Kumar Gupta (0000-0002-5242-7685, Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital, corresponding author), Chandra Lal Pandey (0000-0003-1285-0232, Kathmandu University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 186-209 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-09 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of South Asian Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0973-1741 • E-ISSN: 0973-1733 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09731741261453995 |
| OpenAlex | W7164016104 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
The adoption of gender quotas has increased women’s descriptive representation in local government. However, their formal inclusion does not necessarily translate to substantive authority. This study explores how bureaucratic authority embedded within gendered institutional norms shapes the political agency of women deputy mayors in Nepal’s newly federalized local governments. Based on qualitative data from 15 municipalities and rural municipalities, the findings show that bureaucratic discretion manifested through loyalty to male mayors, informational gatekeeping and gendered narratives of incompetence constrain women’s authority and limit their participation in decision-making processes. Bureaucratic ‘neutrality’ functions less as impartial mediation than as a practice that legitimizes hierarchical alignment and sustains existing power asymmetries. Yet, within these constraints, women deputy mayors mobilize their professional expertise, strategic alliances and procedural engagement to assert their agency and influence decision-making. This study argues that achieving gender equality in local governance depends not only on electoral inclusion but also on reforming the bureaucratic structure through which authority is exercised
Agency (philosophy) · Bureaucracy · Corporate governance · Discretion · Gatekeeping · Inclusion (mineral) · Legitimacy · Politics · Power (physics) · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Politics and Representation · Public Policy and Administration Research
Mainstreaming gender, democratizing the state?
Leadership At The Apex
Gender Images in Public Administration
Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.
Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Handbook of Feminist Research
Gender Quotas and the Crisis of the Mediocre Man
New Research on Gendered Political Institutions
Contesting gender quotas
Five years of local democracy in federal Nepal (2017–2022)
Quota trouble
Quotas as a ‘fast track’ to equal representation for women
A Gender Gap Not Closed by Quotas
Gender and Political Representation in the UK
Bureaucratic connections and local development
Gender mainstreaming in politics
Quota Laws for Women in Politics
Women and Public Administration in a Comparative Perspective
Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies
The Impact of Formal Organizational Structure on Politico‐administrative Interaction
Gender and the Hidden Life of Institutions
Nested Newness, Institutional Innovation, and the Gendered Limits of Change
The Story of the Theory of Critical Mass
Informal Institutions, Institutional Change, and Gender Equality
Analysing Women's Substantive Representation
How politicians see their relationship with top bureaucrats
Gendered bureaucracies
Gendered local politics
Sustaining Gendered Practices? Power, Parties, and Elite Political Networks in Argentina
Finding the Man in the State
Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|