Factors Responsible for Political Participation among Rural Women

Participation means that people are closely involved in the economic, social, cultural and political process that affects their lives. Women are a major force behind people's participation in the life of society as they play a leading role in the emergence of groups, organizations and movements worldwide. Levels of political awareness of women are conditioned greatly by the political culture of the area, the approach of political parties towards them, and the quality of the local leadership. Political socialization is the gradual learning of the norms, attitudes and behavior acceptable to an ongoing political system. Political participation of women can be defined as the degree of equality and freedom enjoyed by women in shaping and sharing of power and in the value given by society to this role of women. This paper attempts to throw light on factors which play a major role in political participation of rural women depicting the role of family, peer, education, party affiliation etc. The implication of this paper would be to recognize the contribution of rural women to politics and in the decision making process by identifying the factors that affect their participation in politics. It would help in strengthening the democracy by closing gap between the decision makers in government and social movements where women prevail.