Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Quotas for women in government have become a crucial tool for advancing female political inclusion across the globe. Yet ultimately, do quotas enable representatives and constituents to upend social, economic, and political hierarchies in favor of the women they are meant to empower? Women's Representation and Resistance seeks to answer this question in the world's largest democracy: India. It builds and tests a theory linking political representation and economic empowerment. Cutting- edge research design and extensive field research maximize causal inference and insight. It finds that women at the helm of government catalyze the claiming and enforcement of fundamental economic rights to inherit property. Women's voice has a cost. It energizes resistance, particularly in the short-term. However, where female representatives can support constituent claims to rights at critical junctures-here marriage negotiations-women can strike integrative solutions to intra-household bargaining. Where successful, they transform resistance to support for equality"--