The Implications of Political Corruption for India’s Economic Development
The Implications of Political Corruption for India’s Economic Development
Varun Gajendran
EDGE Research Paper
Professor Lusignan
TA: Sahil Khanna
Fundamental Problems With the Indian “Democracy”
Although India is the largest democracy in the world, it continues to struggle on a daily basis to fight corruption in politics at both the national and local levels. In a nation with such a rich diversity of languages, cultures, and traditions, nothing is more important to reconciling all the differences than the right to vote. However, the democratically elected government seemingly does nothing to bridge the enormous gap between the rich and the poor and to make the lives of the 300 million people living below the poverty line any better (Roy, 1). While India has more people living in poverty than any other nation, finding a solution to these basic issues of human rights has recently taken a backseat to nuclear weapons testing and other extravagant nationalist issues on the Indian political agenda. Furthermore, the instability and corruption of the government since India won its independence in 1947 has discouraged the long-term investments that are needed to drive economic growth. The fact of the matter is that India is on par with the United States as one of the models of democracy in the world; yet, India is far behind the United States in its economic development. There can only be one explanation for India’s unimpressive economic record and the plight of its 300 million citizens living in poverty — the unprecedented political corruption and instability that can so easily be seen at all levels of government. Unfortunately, there are very few means for the citizens to fight the corruption in the current system. The only power they have is through the vote, and yet many Indian citizens are denied the opportunity to vote. Although the recent administration of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in the 1990’s took the first steps towards putting an
Varun Gajendran
EDGE Research Paper
Professor Lusignan
TA: Sahil Khanna
Fundamental Problems With the Indian “Democracy”
Although India is the largest democracy in the world, it continues to struggle on a daily basis to fight corruption in politics at both the national and local levels. In a nation with such a rich diversity of languages, cultures, and traditions, nothing is more important to reconciling all the differences than the right to vote. However, the democratically elected government seemingly does nothing to bridge the enormous gap between the rich and the poor and to make the lives of the 300 million people living below the poverty line any better (Roy, 1). While India has more people living in poverty than any other nation, finding a solution to these basic issues of human rights has recently taken a backseat to nuclear weapons testing and other extravagant nationalist issues on the Indian political agenda. Furthermore, the instability and corruption of the government since India won its independence in 1947 has discouraged the long-term investments that are needed to drive economic growth. The fact of the matter is that India is on par with the United States as one of the models of democracy in the world; yet, India is far behind the United States in its economic development. There can only be one explanation for India’s unimpressive economic record and the plight of its 300 million citizens living in poverty — the unprecedented political corruption and instability that can so easily be seen at all levels of government. Unfortunately, there are very few means for the citizens to fight the corruption in the current system. The only power they have is through the vote, and yet many Indian citizens are denied the opportunity to vote. Although the recent administration of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in the 1990’s took the first steps towards putting an