Francesca R. Jensenius
Senior Research FellowFrancesca R. Jensenius is a Senior Research Fellow (part time) at NUPI and an Associate Professor at the Institute for Political Science at the University of Oslo. She specializes in comparative politics, comparative political economy, and research methods, with a regional focus on South Asia.
Her main research interest is how electoral dynamics and institutional design affect different types of inequality in societies. She pursues her research through a multi-method approach, combining large-scale data collection and analysis with extensive field work.
Several of Jensenius' publications are about state approaches to empowering minorities and women, in India and elsewhere. In the book Social Justice through Inclusion: The Consequences of Electoral Quotas in India (OUP 2017), she explored the long-term effects of electoral quotas for the Scheduled Castes (the former "untouchables"). In addition, she has published on, among other things, the political inclusion of women in Indian politics, the link between the organizational features of political parties and electoral outcomes, and how electoral incentives affect local-level development patterns.
Jensenius is currently working on the relationship between political institutions, electoral dynamics, and local-level development patterns in India, as well as a comparative project about how legal regimes and legal changes across the world affect women and other marginalized communities.
Jensenius was the Nils Klim Prize laureate of 2018, and was awarded the Christian Michelsen Prize for outstanding development research in 2016.
See personal website for further information.
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Publication
: Academic article
Political Change, Women’s Rights, and Public Opinion on Gender Equality in Myanmar
Myanmar’s introduction of competitive elections after decades of military rule raised expectations for progress in economic and social development, including in the area of women’s rights. In this paper, we draw on data from two national surveys, interviews, and existing qualitative studies to explore... -
Publication
: Academic article
Fighting Violence Against Women: Laws, Norms & Challenges Ahead
In the 1990s and 2000s, pressure from feminist movements and allies succeeded in pushing scores of states to reform their laws to prevent and punish violence against women (VAW). Even in states with progressive legislation, however, activists face challenges to induce citizens to comply with the law,... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_FAG
Voting for development? Ruling coalitions and literacy in India
Across the world, governments skew the distribution of state resources for political gain. But does such politicisation of resource allocation affect development trajectories in the long run? We focus on the long-term effects of voting for the ruling coalition on primary education in India. Using a close-election... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_FAG
Introduction to Special Issue of Social Politics: Legal Regimes, Women’s Work, and Women’s Empowerment
The second-wave feminist movement called attention to the endurance of discriminatory laws that deny women equal rights and opportunities. Since the 1970s, most countries around the world responded to feminist demands and reformed family law, labor law, reproductive rights, national constitutions, and... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Valg i India: Lokale valg topper statistikken
(Article available in Norwegian only): Historisk sett har valg i India hatt en høy deltakelse på rundt 60 prosent, men i motsetning til de fleste andre demokratiske land stemmer flere indere i lokale valg enn i nasjonale valg. Hvorfor er det slik? -
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: ARTIKKEL_POP
Hvem dominerer Indias nasjonale valg?
(Article available in Norwegian only): Antallet uavhengige kandidater har økt kraftig i India siden uavhengigheten i 1947, men hvor stor sannsynlighet har de for å vinne? -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Women and minorities in the Lok Sabha: Intersectionality in the Indian elections
It is well known that women are under-represented in India’s legislative assemblies. The historically marginalised Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), on the other hand, have reserved seats proportional to their share of the population that guarantee them a political presence. What does... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Valg i India: Få bastioner og mange svingninger
(Article available in Norwegian only): I forbindelse med valget i India hører man ofte at enkelte partier har såkalte bastioner – områder hvor de sanker inn spesielt mange stemmer. Hvor mye belegg er det for slike påstander? -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Valg i India: en representasjonskrise?
(Article in Norwegian only): Parlamentsvalget i India for 2019 nærmer seg, og de politiske kandidatene forbereder seg på å møte velgerne sine igjen. Et enkelt og viktig spørsmål følger: hvor mange mennesker representerer egentlig en indisk folkevalgt? Svaret er at i dagens India representerer et medlem... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Valg i India: Utdanning, urbanisering og valgdeltakelse
(Article available in Norwegian only): India er kjent for å ha en ganske høy valgdeltakelse, men hvem stiller opp for å stemme i India, og hvorfor? -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Valg i India: Legitimitet og ansvarlighet i kompetitive valg
(This article is available in Norwegian only): Det er sterk konkurranse i Indiske nasjonalvalg. Indiske politikere vinner med mindre marginer enn kandidater i andre land med sammenlignbare valgsystemer, for eksempel Canada og Storbritannia. I et valgsystem som det indiske, med flertallsvalg i enkeltpersonskretser,... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL_POP
Study shows Indian politicians are spending less and less time in legislative assemblies
In many democracies, elected politicians spend a substantial amount of time in the legislature to propose, debate, and vote on policies. In developing countries, politicians face an extra duty – they are also expected to spend a large part of their time with constituents listening to their concerns,... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
This data shows why Indian MPs don’t truly represent their people
s the national elections of 2019 draw close, and incumbents prepare to face voters again, a straightforward question follows: how many people does a Member of Parliament really represent? On average, an Indian parliamentarian today represents constituencies with more than 1.5 million or 15 lakh eligible... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
3 charts challenge lazy thinking on voter turnout and its link to literacy & urbanisation
India is known for a fairly high election turnout, but who turns out to vote in India, and why? In our last article, we discussed how constituency size, organisational networks, and social pressures may play a role in influencing voter turnout. Two other factors are commonly cited as having an impact... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
It’s a myth that 2014 election was exceptional in the vote share of winning candidates
Elections to the Lok Sabha are highly competitive. Indian politicians win with smaller margins than their counterparts in other countries with a similar electoral system, such as Canada and the United Kingdom. In a first-past-the-post electoral system, a candidate needs 50 per cent plus one vote to... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
Why voters don’t turn up in larger numbers in Lok Sabha elections – all politics is local
Historically, national elections in India have had an average voter turnout of about 60 per cent, but there have been massive differences in turnout both across India and across different elections. Voter turnout is important for the legitimacy of democratic elections, and Indian elections are known... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
Political parties dominate India’s national elections, not candidates
A common perception regarding Indian politics is that it is the candidate, and not the party, who wins the elections. This makes it important for parties to pick the “right” candidates, and parties in India do spend enormous effort in local consultations and identity arithmetic while choosing who to... -
Publication
: KRONIKK
There are very few BJP strongholds or Congress bastions in India. Data shows why
An important ongoing discussion in some political circles in India is whether the Election Commission should limit public access to the so-called Form 20 data, which reports the exact number of votes that each candidate receives in each polling booth in an election. The Form 20 data has been made available... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL
Gender-Discriminatory Laws and Women’s Economic Agency
Recent years have seen widespread advances in women’s legal rights in many countries. In other places, restrictions on women’s autonomy remain entrenched. This study explores cross-country patterns in the association between gender-discriminatory legislation and various indicators of women’s economic... -
Publication
: Del av bok/rapport
India: A Contradictory Record
This chapter provides a review of the role of women in Indian politics, with a focus on female legislators. It begins with an account of the entry of women into politics in the early 20th century. Second, it looks at the gradual increase in the number of women MPs and the barriers they have faced. The...