Has the deepening of democracy in India caused a fundamental shift in the state's approach to development?
Has the deepening of democracy in India caused a fundamental shift in the state's approach to development?
Introduction
Over the course of Indian political history, the discourse of democracy has it that, it has changed over time. As Kaviraj states in his piece, “Dilemmas of Democratic Development in India”,
Development isn't merely a history of policies but a history of ideas. Therefore, at various benchmarks in the Indian history, there have been different ideas of development which was governed by a modified version of democracy i.e., from the socialistic democracy during the
Nehruvian days, to a populistic one during Indira Gandhi‟s period to a capitalistic one that presently prevails. But one indisputable fact is that these democracies have contributed to some notion of development and, to answer the question, along with the deepening or the shift in the ideologies of democracy, the State‟s approach to development has also shifted. Jafferlot outlines these shifts in four parts: i) Bipolarization, ii) Coalition, iii) Caste & Regional Part System, iv)
Judicial Involvement.
In this essay, I will be talking about the „deepening of democracy‟ in three aspects and the developmental shifts through this process. I will first define democracy and then talk about the deepening of democracy in terms of Economic growth, Voters aspect and finally, democracy as an institution.
Democracy:
Democracy is, in its most basic sense, the power of the people to choose their authority i.e., someone who can represent them and stand for their welfare. Deepening of democracy, in my opinion, is the realization of people with regard to their rights and power and voicing their
opinions through creating a political party or voting for a party representing their ideals or challenging the rule of the legislative and the executive via the judicial system.
Deepening of democracy in terms of Economic Growth
In this section, economic growth is synonymous to
Introduction
Over the course of Indian political history, the discourse of democracy has it that, it has changed over time. As Kaviraj states in his piece, “Dilemmas of Democratic Development in India”,
Development isn't merely a history of policies but a history of ideas. Therefore, at various benchmarks in the Indian history, there have been different ideas of development which was governed by a modified version of democracy i.e., from the socialistic democracy during the
Nehruvian days, to a populistic one during Indira Gandhi‟s period to a capitalistic one that presently prevails. But one indisputable fact is that these democracies have contributed to some notion of development and, to answer the question, along with the deepening or the shift in the ideologies of democracy, the State‟s approach to development has also shifted. Jafferlot outlines these shifts in four parts: i) Bipolarization, ii) Coalition, iii) Caste & Regional Part System, iv)
Judicial Involvement.
In this essay, I will be talking about the „deepening of democracy‟ in three aspects and the developmental shifts through this process. I will first define democracy and then talk about the deepening of democracy in terms of Economic growth, Voters aspect and finally, democracy as an institution.
Democracy:
Democracy is, in its most basic sense, the power of the people to choose their authority i.e., someone who can represent them and stand for their welfare. Deepening of democracy, in my opinion, is the realization of people with regard to their rights and power and voicing their
opinions through creating a political party or voting for a party representing their ideals or challenging the rule of the legislative and the executive via the judicial system.
Deepening of democracy in terms of Economic Growth
In this section, economic growth is synonymous to