Abstract

Legislative committees have power to take decisions and influence key matters in Legislatures. Women’s descriptive representation is measured through their appointment in various including power/ masculine and low status/feminine committees. This study examines the gender gaps both vertical and horizontal in various parliamentary committees of Punjab Assembly. The Punjab Assembly has been taken as a case, because it is the largest Provincial assembly of Pakistan. The committee system has been taken as a unit of analysis from 2013 to 2018, in order to examine the women’s appointment as heads (horizontal) and member (vertical) in committees. The findings show that the committee allocations are gender biased; women are over-represented in feminine and low prestigious committees, while under-represented in masculine and power committees. This study suggests, political parties may develop gender neutral mechanism for committee allocations.