The rise of wealthy candidates is driven by the weak representative role of India’s elected politicians, which discourages quality governance and leads elected politicians to view their election campaign as an economic investment in the future.
Costlier elections may not result from lower levels of morality in the political class or from a surge in bribe giving. They instead likely flow from rising levels of political competition.
Despite obvious obfuscation, there is much to be learned from asking politicians about campaign finance and the role of black money in Indian elections.
While genuine political finance reform would be politically popular for the BJP, recent moves have done little to enhance transparency or dampen flow of black money.
If it fully implements policies aimed at Russia and Iran, the Trump administration risks damaging relations with India and losing support on other issues of importance.
India is no stranger to the dilemma of money in politics, but this nexus has not been the subject of sustained scholarly attention.
Data generated testing using innovative methodology is changing the approach to policy research in the public sector.
By excluding the Muslims from the defense of the nation, the state has undermined the project of a multicultural India enshrined in the Constitution and prepared the ground for the saffronisation of the public sphere.
India is the world’s largest democracy, with more than one billion people and an economy expanding faster than China’s.
There are many lessons to be drawn from the darker days of India’s political history. The one that ought to be demystified is the view that the suspension or promotion of democracy necessarily stuns or shocks international leaders to the extent that those in India might expect them to.