THE GENDER GAP IN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: ANALYSING VOTING AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN URBAN PAKISTAN

This paper examines the factors that contribute to the gender gap in politics in the context of urban setting in Pakistan using a comparison between Lahore, Punjab, and Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Despite the women being almost half of the electorate, their participation in formal politics as well as civic activities is disproportionately low. This study surpasses descriptions by using a quantitative paradigm to ascertain empirically the comparative role of socio-economic resources, attitudinal variables, and constraining social norms. A stratified random sample of 600 respondents (300 in each city, gender balanced) was used to administer a structured questionnaire, which asked data about voting behaviour, non-electoral political participation (e.g., attending community meetings, contacting officials) and important explanatory variables. The assessment of the relationship between the different predictors of political engagement among men and women in the two urban settings with the use of logistic and ordinal regression models was done. Early evidence suggests that, although socio-economic resources are strong predictors of both genders in participation, patriarchal norms have a negative impact on women participation which is more pronounced in Peshawar as compared to Lahore. In addition, the mediating effect of political efficacy in overcoming structural impediments seems to be more eminent among women in Lahore. The research finds that the gender gap in participation is not homogeneous and is defined by a complicated interaction of individual agency and localised socio-political systems. The results enhance the literature of gender and participation in comparative politics by providing evidence-based knowledge of policymakers, civil society movements, and efforts to promote more participatory democracy in the many urban environments throughout Pakistan.