Anirvan Chowdhury

Assistant Professor, University of Louisville

Research

I study political parties and democracy with a focus on gender, religion and conservatism in South Asia. My dissertation and book project examines how religiously conservative parties expand beyond their core elite and male base to mobilize women in India. Complementary agendas focus on ideology dissemination and identity formation, how parties help–or hinder–democratic deepening, and subnational authoritarianism within democratic regimes.

Book Project: Domesticating Politics: How Religiously Conservative Parties Mobilize Women

- Mancur Olson Best Dissertation in Political Economy, APSA 2024
- Aaron Wildavsky Best Dissertation in Religion and Politics, APSA 2024
- Thomas E. Patterson Best Dissertation in Political Communication, APSA 2024
- Best Dissertation in Women, Gender, and Politics Research, APSA 2024

One of the most remarkable developments in contemporary Indian politics is the explosion in women’s political participation. For example, between 2009 and 2014, 27% more women attended election rallies, party meetings, and canvassed on behalf of political parties. But paradoxically, this growth was most pronounced for women voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a religiously conservative party whose ideology of Hindutva (Hindu-ness) has historically propagated traditional gender roles. What explains the BJP’s success at engaging women in public spaces?

For a sketch of the argument, research design, and evidence, please click here! In case you want to know more, please e-mail me at anirvan.chowdhury[at]louisville[dot]edu!

Publications

Journal Articles

2019 Voter information campaigns and political accountability: Cumulative findings from a preregistered meta-analysis of coordinated trials (with Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan Hyde, Craig McIntosh, Gareth Nellis, Claire L. Adida, Eric Arias, Clara Bicalho, Taylor C. Boas, Mark T. Buntaine, Simon Chauchard, Jessica Gottlieb, F. Daniel Hidalgo, Marcus Holmlund, Ryan Jablonski, Eric Kramon, Horacio Larreguy, Malte Lierl, John Marshall, Gwyneth McClendon, Marcus A. Melo, Daniel L. Nielson, Paula M. Pickering, Melina R. Platas, Pablo Querubin, Pia Raffler, and Neelanjan Sircar). Science Advances

Book chapters

2019 Meta-analysis (with Thad Dunning, Clara Bicalho, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan Hyde, Craig Mcintosh and Gareth Nellis) in Information, Accountability and Cumulative Learning: Lessons from Metaketa I. Cambridge University Press.

2017 Do Gram Panchayats Get Their Money? A Case Study of Gram Panchayat Fund Flows in Birbhum District, West Bengal (with Ambrish Dongre and Yamini Aiyar) in Decentralisation, Governance and Development: An Indian Perspective. Orient Black Swan.

Working papers

Domesticating Politics: How Religiously Conservative Parties Mobilize Women in India [under review]
- Sage Best Paper in Comparative Politics, APSA 2025
- Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics, APSA 2025
Parties against Democracy: How Ruling Parties Subvert Inclusion to Entrench Dominance (with Anustubh Agnihotri)
Social Engineering through Schools (with Aaditya Dar (Independent Researcher), Varun K., and Chinmaya Kumar)

Work in progress

Religiously Conservative Parties and Women’s Political Mobilization [Book project].
Mobilizing Women at Scale: Mixed Evidence from a Field Experiment (with Saad Gulzar and Durgesh Pathak)

Candidate Selection in Local Elections in India (with Priyadarshi Amar, Varun Karekurve-Ramachandra, and Kamya Yadav)

Resting paper

Poverty Alleviation or Political Calculation? Implementing India’s Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

Other writing