Politics in India

Politics in India

Social Structure

Many religious minorities

Hindu as majority religion but generally has many variants and features pluralism

Primary conflicts between Hindu and Muslim; secular and religious; Sikh and non-Sikh;

Wealthy and poor—vast disparities in wealth.

Traditionally caste was important—since independence legally outlawed discrimination based on caste but socially still practiced and impacts many areas of life.

Tribal groups are also significant with recent demands for recognition of autonomy

Disparity in language with English being frequently a common denominator as well as Hindi in the north.

Urban vs. rural an important distinction

Landed and landless is very significant

Colonial legacy

Establishment of a bureaucracy important

Partition

Anti-colonial struggle a unifying force

Rail network

Taxation system

Indirect rule provided a strong element of local control in some spheres (resulting in a federal state)

Provincial legislatures provided "democratic training."

Political Socialization and Culture

(Student Presentation)

Political Institutions and Policy Process

President: Appoints the Prime Minister—important when parliamentary majority is unclear

Prime Minister—Prime Minister appointed by president but depends on maintaining parliamentary majority; PM selects cabinet which is formally appointed by President

Lok Sabha – lower house of Parliament—543 directly elected in single member districts

Rajya Sabha—council of states. 250 members elected by members of each state legislative assembly. Representation is roughly in accordance with population.

Lok Sabha determines PM; bills must pass through both houses. If no agreement hold a joint session. Only Lok Sabha deals with budget. Parliament generally focuses on technical aspects of bills.

Discussion Questions 1

How has the colonial legacy contributed to the maintenance of national unity and democracy? What were the negative aspects of the colonial legacy?

Identify both democratic and anti-democratic aspects of Indian political culture.

How do India’s legislative institutions represent aspects of both the American and British systems? How have these models been adapted to India’s needs?

Discuss the positive and negative aspects of the relationship between the central government and the states in India.

Compare Indian federalism with federalism in Mexico.

Interest Aggregation and Political Parties

Dominant party in Indian politics since independence was the Congress party. Congress was inclusive and represented a broad secular coalition that had support distributed throughout the country. At times, elements of the par ty left and established splinter groups. Congress dominated by one family: Nehru, Indira Gandhi; Rajiv Gandhi; Sonia Gandhi (current leader—Italian born widow of Rajiv).

Other parties during this time did control more and more Indian states.

Indira Gandhi’s declaration of emergency from 1975-77 resulted in punishment for Congress at the next election, where her opponents won a victory.

Other parties:

BJP—Hindu nationalist party, coalition leader after the March 1998 elections

Communist Party

Janata Dal

Rule by all parties has been relatively more equal since the 1980s with all parties needing to rely on broad coalitions which have resulted in frequent reformulation of governments. This has also resulted in no party being fully able to implement its c ampaign platform.

India also has significant interest group activity and social movements.

Social Movements relating to women, environmental issues, poverty and various tribal and ethnic minorities. Normally these groups are led by those from the upper class. Some are more truly grassroots.

Protest activity by interest groups is largely accepted within Indian society. (see table 18.9)

Policy Issues

India is largely industrially self-sufficient, in part due to the pursuit of populist protectionist policies. More recently India has become more open to the international market.

By most measures, economic development in India has proceeded steadily. Still, significant disparity in wealth exists within the country. Such disparity exists not only between the elite and the poor, but also across regions.

India’s economic development did not come at the expense of political democracy—the politics of development was debated within the polity and was not above/outside of politics.

Law and Order: Quota systems provide an outlet that prevents the perception of permanent economic discrimination against some groups. Constitution provides for state of emergency and direct rule of a state in situations of unrest. Unrest exists with di saffected populations within Kashmir and within the Sikh community, etc.

Discussion Questions 2

Compare control by the Congress Party in India with the LDP in Japan and the PRI in Mexico. Where was rule more democratic?

Compare interest aggregation in India with other developing countries. How is the Indian system significantly different?

Compare India’s pursuit of economic development with Mexico’s.

Compare the role of the military in Egypt and India, on the one hand, with Brazil.

How was Indira’s state of emergency different from military coups in Brazil? Are any of these differences significant for democracy?