Does Political Representation Ensure Empowerment? Scheduled Tribes in Decentralised Local Governments of India

The article examines the process of political inclusion through representation and its promises and potentials for empowerment of Scheduled Tribes in decentralised governance in India. It perceives political representation as a process, and tries to explore the potentials of such political representation to include and empower the Scheduled Tribes in matters of decentralised governance. Based on a theoretical review of the concept of representation, the article examines the substantive and descriptive representation of Scheduled Tribes in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The article concludes that political representation, manifested through participation of representatives in PRIs may form necessary conditions to bring Scheduled Tribes into institutions of decision-making, but are not sufficient to empower them, especially in the absence of supportive and enabling institutional arrangements.