The Women’s Reservation Bill, introduced in 1996, was passed in India’s upper house of parliament last Wednesday, March 10, 2010. That was the first of four steps the bill must go through, and it needs the ceremonial president’s signature. The NYTimes reports today on the Uproar in India Over Female Lawmaker Quota:
The upper house of India’s Parliament passed a bill Tuesday that would amend the Constitution to reserve one-third of the seats in India’s national and state legislatures for women, after the measure stirred two days of political chaos that could whittle the governing coalition’s majority to a dangerously thin margin.
The vote, which is an early step in the process of amending the Constitution, brought pandemonium to Parliament, as a small group of regional caste-based parties waged a fierce fight to block it, arguing that it would diminish their influence. […]
The amendment is a long-sought tool to improve the lot of women in India, the world’s most populous democracy. Despite having had several formidable female leaders — including former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, the current leader of the Congress Party — Indian women lag behind men in virtually every sphere of life.
To underscore the magnitude of the Indian intention I pose this thought experiment. Imagine a similar amendment to redress past wrongs here in the U.S.:
The amendment is a long-sought tool to improve the lot of African Americans in the United States, the world’s strongest and most stable democracy. Despite having had several formidable African American leaders — including President Barack Obama and the mayors of Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. — blacks lag behind whites in virtually every sphere of life.
Discuss…
LATER: @timoreilly corrects my math, “Women are 51% of our population. Blacks are 10%. An equivalent would be setting aside 6-7% of seats.”