Paper
AI infrastructure will shape the global balance of power. Democracies have a narrow window to pull ahead.
Alasdair Phillips-Robins, Teddy Tawil, Sam Winter-Levy
{
"authors": [
"Milan Vaishnav",
"Rachel Osnos"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "SAP",
"programs": [
"South Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"South Asia",
"India"
],
"topics": [
"Technology"
]
}
Source: Getty
In The Media
Digital India? An Email Experiment with Indian Legislators
Burgeoning literature uses digital tools such as email to experimentally evaluate the responsiveness of political elites to requests for constituency service.
Published on Jul 8, 2019
Source: India Review
Of the many tasks elected representatives perform, constituency service is among the most difficult to observe and, therefore, to measure. However, a burgeoning literature uses digital tools such as email to experimentally evaluate the responsiveness of political elites to requests for constituency service. To date, this literature has overwhelmingly focused on the developed world. In this article, we describe the results of an email experiment in which we sent plausible, but fictitious constituency service requests to national legislators in India to evaluate their responsiveness, helpfulness, and possibly discriminatory behavior. While the overall response rate to our request is quite poor, those that do respond tend to offer “meaningful” responses. We find scant evidence of legislators discriminating on religious lines.
About the Authors
Milan Vaishnav
Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program
Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He also conducts research on the Indian diaspora.
Rachel Osnos
Former Program Coordinator, South Asia Program
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.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- The Compute Coalition: How to Build the Future of AI in the Free World
- Mirror Life Policy Working GroupCollection
Mirror life is an unprecedented risk that demands action. The Mirror Life Policy Working Group is developing recommendations for guiding and governing the pursuit of beneficial mirror biology while preventing the creation of mirror life.
- Russia’s Elite Conflict Over Internet Restrictions Does Not Herald Regime CollapseCommentary
A much-discussed disagreement over internet restrictions in Russia was never an existential threat for Putin: It was about elite groups protecting their interests.
Alexandra Prokopenko
- Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026Article
This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.
Vrinda Sahai
- Trump’s AI Order Won’t Stymie U.S. Competition with ChinaCommentary
Beijing regulated AI—and then Chinese AI companies took off.
Matt Sheehan
