Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have expanded rapidly across rural India as instruments of women's economic and social mobilisation, yet their role in building political voice and democratic participation remains under-examined, particularly in socio-culturally conservative regions. This study, conducted in November–December 2024, examines whether participation in women's SHGs is associated with political empowerment among rural women in Nuh district, Haryana, a district where a high density of registered SHGs meets a formal 50 per cent local-government quota for women, one that coexists with well-documented barriers to substantive political engagement. Primary data were collected from 120 SHG member-respondents across four villages (Ujina, Singar, Nai, and Bichhor) in three blocks of Nuh with the largest number of registered women SHGs, analysed using frequency and percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation, weighted mean score, ranking, Pearson's and Spearman's correlation coefficients, and one-way ANOVA. Respondents reported moderate-to-high voice within their SHGs (mean Voice Index = 14.12, SD = 3.69, of 21) and political empowerment (mean Political Empowerment Index = 11.93, SD = 2.89, of 18); the two composite indices were positively and significantly correlated (r = 0.523, p < 0.001), and both scales showed strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.925 and 0.915). Contact with elected representatives and general political awareness ranked lowest among indicators, even as overall voice and empowerment moved together. The findings support the view that SHG participation is meaningfully linked to political empowerment, with the weakest link being women's direct engagement with formal political actors and institutions.
Singh, J. & Mirza, A. (2026). Self-Help Groups as Democratic Spaces: Women's Voice and Political Empowerment in Rural Haryana. International Journal of Advanced Research in Commerce, Management & Social Science, 09(02(IV)), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.62823/IJARCMSS/9.2(IV).9131
- Bali Swain, R., & Wallentin, F. Y. (2009). Does microfinance empower women? Evidence from self-help groups in India. International Review of Applied Economics, 23(5), 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692170903007540
- Bali Swain, R., & Wallentin, F. Y. (2012). Factors empowering women in Indian self-help group programs. International Review of Applied Economics, 26(4), 425–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2011.595398
- Beaman, L., Duflo, E., Pande, R., &Topalova, P. (2012). Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: A policy experiment in India. Science, 335(6068), 582–586. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212382
- Chattopadhyay, R., & Duflo, E. (2004). Women as policy makers: Evidence from a randomized policy experiment in India. Econometrica, 72(5), 1409–1443. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0262.2004.00539.x
- Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555
- Davidson, T., & Sanyal, P. (2017). Associational participation and network expansion: Microcredit self-help groups and poor women's social ties in rural India. Social Forces, 95(4), 1695–1724. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sox021
- Deininger, K., & Liu, Y. (2013). Economic and social impacts of an innovative self-help group model in India. World Development, 43, 149–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.09.019
- Desai, R. M., & Joshi, S. (2014). Collective action and community development: Evidence from self-help groups in rural India. The World Bank Economic Review, 28(3), 492–524. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lht024
- Desai, R. M., &Olofsgård, A. (2019). Can the poor organize? Public goods and self-help groups in rural India. World Development, 121, 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.04.009
- Deshpande, A., & Khanna, S. (2021). Can weak ties create social capital? Evidence from self-help groups in rural India. World Development, 146, 105534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105534
- Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women's empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
- Kumar, N., Raghunathan, K., Arrieta, A., Jilani, A., Chakrabarti, S., Menon, P., & Quisumbing, A. R. (2019). Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women's self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India. World Development, 114, 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.023
- Misra, S. B., Srinivasan, D., Ghosh, E., Bumb, M., Menon, M., Joseph, P., & Varma, B. G. (2024). Role of SHGs in political participation and community mobilisation in Manchar, Maharashtra: A multifocal approach. Journal of Rural Development, 43(1), 110–125. https://doi.org/10.25175/jrd/2023/v43/i1/170810
- Putnam, R. D. (1995). Bowling alone: America's declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1995.0002
- Rao, V., & Sanyal, P. (2010). Dignity through discourse: Poverty and the culture of deliberation in Indian village democracies. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 629(1), 146–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716209357402
- Mewat Development Agency, Government of Haryana. (n.d.). Self Help Groups. Retrieved July 2026, from http://mda.nic.in/en/scheme/self-help-groups
- Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. (2020). 50% reservation for women in PRI has been provided as per 'The Haryana Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Act, 2020.' Retrieved July 2026, from https://panchayat.gov.in/en/document/50-reservation-for-women-in-pri-has-been-provided-as-per-the-haryana-panchayati-raj-second-amendment-act-2020/.
