The Paradox of Inclusion: Informal Norms and Gender Reform in Parliament

Abstract

While gender quotas have increased women’s numerical presence in legislatures, substantive authority remains uneven and contingent upon cultural legitimacy. Feminist Institutionalism identifies how gendered rules structure power, and Recognition Theory posits that agency requires status validation; however, the link between institutional inclusion and identity formation remains under-theorized. This paper addresses that gap by conceptualizing political authority as conditioned by pre-institutional recognition regimes. Drawing on Pakistan’s parliamentary context—where reserved seats provide representation without proportionate influence—the study argues that reform is constrained by "patriarchal grammars" rooted in kinship and patronage. Synthesizing subject formation with rule analysis, the paper advances the concept of conditional identity governance to explain how legitimacy is extended instrumentally yet remains revocable. This is developed through an interpretive analysis of bacha posh in contemporary fiction, treating provisional gender reclassification as a substitution mechanism for social recognition. By integrating these theories, the paper demonstrates that while quotas redistribute seats, recognition distributes legitimacy; thus, durable authority requires transforming both institutional design and the symbolic orders that render actors intelligible as authority-bearing subjects.