Chapter 10: Deciding What to Champion: Local Female Elected Officials Prioritize Their Power

Within Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations is seeking to ensure that local government and governance is representative and equitable. While multiple gender development measures have faced scrutiny over the past few decades and have often come up lacking, being elected to national office is often perceived as evidence of women’s agency and empowerment. However, women’s experiences running for office remain understudied. This chapter seeks to describe how women elected to local office in one community in India exercise agency in their professional roles. Through an exploration of literature on gender, politics, and elections; policies that support parity and representation in Indian elections; and analysis of women’s storied experiences as elected leaders, this chapter contributes new insights on gender equity, local governance, and how they relate to agency in the context of girls’ and women’s education.