Rahul Verma on the Debate on Democratic Backsliding in India

Podcast Episode

Rahul Verma on the Debate on Democratic Backsliding in India

In this episode, Rahul Verma joins Suyash Rai to discuss the debate on democratic backsliding.

By Suyash Rai and Rahul Verma

Published on Jul 13, 2023

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode, Rahul Verma joins Suyash Rai to discuss the debate on democratic backsliding. Are claims regarding the death of Indian democracy exaggerated? Are such claims conflating a dominant party system marked by polarization with democratic backsliding? Are the measures used to analyze Indian democracy conscious of the complexity of Indian polity?

EPISODE NOTES

In recent years, international indices and rankings such as the Democracy Index and the V-Dem Index have downgraded India’s democracy. Although there are significant differences in the degrees of downgrading, most major indices suggest that Indian democracy is backsliding.

Meanwhile, India is witnessing an increase in voter turnout, and people continue to participate actively and vociferously in politics. What is the reason for this disconnect between scholarly understandings of Indian democracy and ground realities?

To help us make sense of this dichotomy, Rahul Verma joins Suyash Rai to discuss his recent essay titled “The Exaggerated Death of Indian Democracy.” In the essay, Dr. Verma argues that the claims of democratic backsliding in India are somewhat exaggerated.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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