The document discusses theories explaining the survival of democracy in India. It outlines several key arguments, including the role of political agency, political culture, and economic development. It then analyzes India as a case study, noting how factors like growing per capita income, an emerging middle class, political participation, and respect for electoral verdicts have supported democratic consolidation according to theoretical models. However, the document also argues that India presents some exceptions to theoretical predictions, with its status as a low-income surviving democracy challenging modernization theory. Overall, the document concludes that political culture and context-specific factors best explain India's survival of democracy.

1. What explains
survival of democracy
in India?
Rajesh S Kumar
School of International Development,
University of East Anglia, UK

2. Presentation Outline…
• Introducing the discussion thread
• Key arguments/ theories in support
• Discussion with a case study
• Summarizing the main argument
• Criticisms
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
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3. Introducing the discussion thread….
Survival of democracy…
• Democratic consolidation is the process by which a newly established
democratic regime becomes sufficiently durable that a return to
nondemocratic rule is no longer likely.” (Gasiorowski and
Power,1998)
• The basic theories on survival of democracy considered in support of
the discussion are
• The Role of Political Agency
• The Role of Political Culture
• The Role of Economic Development
• Indian democracy- as a case in highlight
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4. Democracy and India
• A Polyarchy( Dhal, 1989)
• Elected offices,
• Free and fair elections
• Inclusive suffrage
• Right to run for office
• Freedom of expression
• Alternative sources of
information
• Freedom of association
• As per Freedom House
• Freedom Rating-2.5
• Political Rights-2
• Civil Liberties-3
(Source: Freedom House,2015. Available online at
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2015/maps)
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SorucePolity4
http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm

5. Is the democracy consolidated in India ? –
the litmus tests
•Huntington’s two-
turnover test
“the party or group that takes power in
the initial election at the time of transition
loses a subsequent election and turns over
power to those election winners, and if
those election winners then peacefully turn
over power to the winners of a later
election.”
[The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman, University of
Oklahoma Press, 1991, 267]
• democracy as “the only
game in town
• Behaviourally, no group is seriously
engaged in secession or regime change.
Attitudinally, most people accept that
democracy is the best form of government
(so not only does nobody try to change the
regime, nobody particularly wants to).
Constitutionally, democracy is consolidated
when all the major organs of the state act
according to the democratic institutions.
[Linz and Stepan. 1996. Problems of democratic transition and
consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press]
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6. Application of the litmus tests
• Huntington’s two-turnover test
• 16 Parliamentary elections since 1951
• Smooth transfer of power to the
successor leaderships
• The party that rules centre did not rule
the State Governments since 1976
• Incumbent governments were defeated
repeatedly in elections
• democracy as “the only game in town
• Increasing voting percentage since
first election 1952 ( 61% - 66.4%)
[Soruce: http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?id=105]
• Attempts to clamp emergencies
were defeated by the electorate (
1975-77- Emergency Period)
• Judicial Autonomy
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7. Key arguments/ theories in support of
survival of democracy
• Role ofEconomic
Development (Przeworski et
al. (1996)
• Percapita
Income(>$4000(PPP)
• Enduring effect(Limongi
,1997)
• Middle Class
effect(Lipset (1959)
• Bourgeoisie(Moore
Jr,1966)
• Industrial working
class
• Role of Political
Culture(Almond and Verba 1963)
• Values and beliefs
consistent with
democracy
• Interpersonal trust
• Tolerance-conflict and
consensus
• Political
participation(educatio
n/exposure)
• Legitimacy of
democratic decisions
• Role of Political
Agencies(Burton et al. 1992)
• Political Actors
• Elites
• Rules and values of
democratic
Institutions and
Procedures
• Survival probability
increases with
consensus
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8. Major highlights of
Indian polity
Government: Federal Parliamentary
Constitutional Republic
Legislature: Parliament of India( Rajya Sabha and
Lok Sabha)
Decolonized from United Kingdom: Dominion(
15th August, 1947) Republic( 26 January, 1950)
Population:1,210,193,422( 2011 Census)
GDP: $ 1688
Gini Index:33.9
HDI:0.586( Medium)
[Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India]
Available at http://www.mapsofindia.com/
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9. Empirical evidences from Indian democracy..
• Economic Development
(Przeworski et al. (1996)
• Growing Per capita
Income(>$4000)
• Enduring effect(Limongi
,1997)
• Growing Middle Class
effect(Lipset (1959)
• Industrialists- erstwhile
kings-
Bourgeoisie(Moore
Jr,1966)
• Growing Industrial
working class
• Decentralisation of
development
• Appreciable Gini Index
• Political Culture
(Almond and Verba 1963)
• Engagement with decolonization
• Non Violence principles
• Indian National Congress
experience
• Provincial Government
experience
• Versions of democratic
arrangements under local
Kingdoms
• Respect of electoral verdicts
• Increasing voting percentage
• Local self governments
• Civil society and NGOs
• Social capital development
• Rejection of authoritarian styles(
constitutional emergencies)
• Historical ethical backgrounds of
self governments( Panchayats- a
kind of polyarchy)
• Political Agencies
• Congress party,
• Gandhi, Nehru
• Election Commission,
• Supreme Court
• Minority Rights
• Secularism
• Organized
bureaucracy
• Political Parties
• Three Tier
Governments
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10. Summarizing the main argument
• The survival of democracy is multi causal and is a very complex
phenomenon
• The experience with the Indian policy again validates context specific
reasoning for the survival of democracy
•Indian democracy is not greatly an exemption to the general operation of
the contemporary theories explaining the survival of democracy but there
exists strong exceptions to the theoretical prescriptions
• To some extent the play of luck can cannot be ruled out
• The survival of democracy in India could be largely explained by the
Political culture followed by agencies approach and then economic
development complemented by intrinsic features unique to the context
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11. Contrasting and special features…..
• Adam Przeworski et al, Democracy and Development(2001)- income
is the best indicator of democracy- predicted 77 % of the regime
types- but India makes an exception
• Challenges the modernization theory- that democracy survives in
large income countries
• India is the longest surviving low income political regime on
democratic regime mode
• the other predictors such as religion, accountability, freedom of
speech, economic equality are not holding good to the situation
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12. Conclusion
The Key explanatory factor to explain survival of
democracy in India is Political Culture along with
other general and special causal factors
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13. Bibliography
● Almond, Gabriel, and Sidney V. (1963), ‘The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and
Democracy in Five Nations’, Princeton
● Gasiorowski M. J. and Power T. J. (1998), ‘The structural determinants of
democratic consolidation’, Comparative Political Studies, 31(6): 740-771
● Huntington, S. P. (1993). The Third Wave: Democratisation in the Late
Twentieth Century. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.
● Krouse R. W. (1982), ‘Polyarchy & Participation: The Changing Democratic
Theory of Robert Dahl’, Polity, 14 (3):441-463
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14. Bibliography...
● Lipset S. M. (1959), ‘Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic
Development and Political Legitimacy’, The American Political Science Review,
53(1): 69-105
● Przeworski A. and Limongi F. (1997), ‘Modernization: Theories and Facts’,
World Politics, 49(2):155-183
● Przeworski A., Alvarez M., Cheibub J. A. & Limongi F. (1996), ‘What Makes
Democracies Endure?’, Journal of Democracy, 7(1):39-55
● Theuerkauf U. (2015), Lecture notes on democracy, governance and
development, University of East Anglia, UK.
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15. Source : www.google.com
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