1) The document discusses political, social, and economic developments in India since 2013. It notes that while many of Charles Hauss' assertions have remained true, such as widespread poverty and air pollution, some changes have occurred. 2) Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister in 2014 and his BJP party won a majority, while the Aam Aadmi Party emerged as a new political force focused on combating corruption. 3) A new state of Telangana was also created in 2014 from the former state of Andhra Pradesh.

1. Throughout chapter twelve in Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global
Challenges, much of what Charles Hauss says remains true about India today. The caste system
in still in place, the two major parties are still Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and
there are still disputes between the Hindus and the Muslims that occupy certain states like Punjab
and Kashmir. However, a few major events have taken place since the book was written in mid
2013 like the newly elected prime minster, Narendra Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party1.
As of 2015, another major party called the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) caught some motion after
their leader Arvind Kejriwal “turned an anti-corruption movement into an electoral machine” 2.
A new state called Telangana was established in August of 2013 3, and a few strides have been
made towards bettering the sanitation system (or lack thereof), air pollution, and poverty in India
but as Hauss stated in the book, they are still some of the worst on the planet.
India has a parliamentary system that runs almost identical to the United Kingdom
parliamentary system. The lower house or the Lok Sabha has the majority of the power while the
upper house or the Rajya Sabha has less power. One idea that is different from the U.K.
parliamentary system is that the president technically appoints the prime minister, however, this
is not actually the case because the prime minister has to be the leader of the party that has the
majority or the coalition in the Lok Sabha 4. In 2014, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister
of India. Mr. Modi is a part of the BJP and during the 2014 election the BJP won a majority in
1
“India country profile”, 2016, bbc.com
2 Mufflerman triumphs”, The Economist, 2015
3 “India MPs protest against creation of Telangana state”, 2013, bbc.com
4 Hauss, Charles, Comparative Politics: Domestic Response to Global Challenges, (Stamford,
CT, Cengage Learning, 2013) 344-345

2. the parliament on its own, which meant that it did not need another smaller party to form a
coalition with 5.
Following the election of Mr. Modi, a new party was formed. This party is called Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP). AAP was formed after there was corruption within the government. AAP is
currently being led by Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal appealed to voters from all demographics and
really took hold in Delhi, the nation’s capital. Kejriwal became the chief of Delhi but led an
extremely chaotic time and resigned after just 49 days. However, eight months later the AAP
won one of the biggest wins since 1947. In Delhi, AAP won 67 out of the 70 seats. Kejriwal
became chief minister again on February 14, 2015. Mr. Kejriwal stands against much of the
BJP’s platform, which is why he and the AAP got elected. 6
In June of 2014 India created their 29th state called Telangana in southern India. The new
state is comprised of ten districts which previously belonged to Andhra Pradesh including the
capital Hyderabad. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will share Hyderabad as their state capital for
10 years, at which Andhra Pradesh will establish a new state capital. 7
This is following a 50-year protest for Telangana to become a new state because the
residence felt like the government was neglecting the northern part (now the state of Telangana)
of Andhra Pradesh. The population is over 35 million. K Chandrasekhar Rao became the first
chief minister for Telangana. Some people were happy about the split because they did believe
that they were being ignored, however, there were a few groups who opposed the split because
the felt that the economic reasons were too great. They were also unhappy because the capital of
5 “India profile – Leaders”, 2014, bbc.com
6 “Mufflerman triumphs” The Economist, 2015
7 “New state of Telangana is born in southern India” ,2014, bbc.com

3. Hyderabad is where a large number of major pharmaceutical companies and information
technology are located. 8
Just like much of Telangana, India is home to some of the poorest towns in the world. As
Hauss states: “Most mainstream scholars today estimate that at least three hundred million
Indians are poor, a number greater than the total population of every country on earth except for
China and the United States”9. Hauss states that the majority of the poor are malnourished
because they do not get the food that they need to survive. Many of the people who are
malnourished have suffered from diseases caused by open defecation.
The current prime minister, Mr. Modi is making it a priority to buy toilets to try to end
this simple, disastrous epidemic. “Of the 1 billion people in the world who have no toilet, India
accounts for nearly 600 million.” 10 However, some prefer to not use a toilet because of ritual
purposes. Caste divisions also share a purpose in this because the “untouchables” or the absolute
lowest class in India are the only ones who “clear human waste”11. It is worth noting that some
people who do have toilets just choose not to use them.
Religion also plays a large role in who is malnourished from diseases. It is interesting that
“out of every 100 children, 1.7 more Muslim than Hindu ones survive to five years” and “67% of
all Hindu households, rural and urban, practiced open defecation, compared with just 42% of
Muslim ones” 12.
8 “New state”, 2014
9 Hauss, Comparative Politics, 352
10 “The final frontier”, The Economist, 2014
11 “The final”, The Economist
12 “The final”, The Economist

4. The air pollution in India does not help the Indians health at all. In New Delhi air levels
have been measured at three to four times the sanctioned limit, which rivals Beijing 13. “Air
pollution is proven to exacerbate chronic lung ailments, and there is mounting evidence it also
leads to stress, coronary diseases and inflammation” 14. Katy Daigle of the Star Press claims that,
“In New Delhi, levels of PM 10-particulate matter that is 10 micrometers in size-have routinely
bounced around 400 micrograms per cubic meter the past several months. That’s four times the
city’s limit of 100, and well above the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of 20”
15.
So while much of the assertions that Hauss made have remained the same, like the
poverty level and air pollution, some has changed like the emergence of a new political party
(AAP). India is no longer has a new prime minister and has started to make some leeway on
trying to combat the lack of toilets in the area which would also combat the serious illnesses that
people get with open defecation.
13 Daigle, Katy, “New Delhi plagued by soot-filled air” The Star Press, 2014, 6A
14 Daigle, “New Delhi”
15 Daigle, “New Dehli”