Abstract

This paper dealt with the steps involved in developing a psychological scale for assessing the attitude of elected women towards grass root self governance (Panchayati raj) in Tamil nadu, India. The Panchayati raj is the system of village level (Gram panchayat), block level (panchayat samiti) and district level (Zilla parishad) councils, members elected by the people, carrying out administration activities. Due to the provision of one-third reservations, entry of women in grass root politics was ensured. But the attitude of the women members could influence their participation either positively or negatively. Hence the present attempt was made to construct psychological scale to measure the positive or negative attitude of elected women members towards Panchayati raj system. The scale was constructed following Likert’s method of summated rating technique. Based on the highest ‘t’ values of  more than 1.96 and other guidelines, totally 12 statements (6 positive and 6 negative statements) covering the universe of Panchayati raj  were selected and administered.

Key words: Panchayati raj (self governance), political empowerment, attitude, summated rating.