Politics of India

India

Republic of India
A federal republic with a parliamentary
system of government
capital: New Delhi

2nd most populous nation

Population: over one billion
Growing at 1.5% a year

1,400,000,000

1,200,000,000

1,000,000,000

800,000,000

600,000,000

400,000,000

200,000,000

Population in 2005

A nation of diversity: languages

Constitution lists 14 official principal
languages
English
Hindi (30%)

A nation of diversity: religions

Religions:
Hindu (~81%)
Muslim (~12%)
others (e.g. Buddhist 0.7%)

all major religions in the world are present

one of the major causes of conflict
religion can become a political vehicle for
social movement

Brief history
One of the worlds
oldest civilizations
5,000 years

foreign incursions
Aryans, Arabs, Turks,
Portugal, France, and
Britain
from 1,500 B.C. to 19th
Century A.D.

190 years of British colonial rule

Informal colonial rule through the British
East India Company (1750s-1850s)
formal colonial rule after the Mutiny
rebellion of 1857

Struggle for independence

Indian National Congress was formed in
1885
non-violent resistance to colonial rule
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
transformed INC
unity within diversity
non-cooperation movement

Nehru (1889-1964)

Independence & partition

Division of the subcontinent (1947)
India
Pakistan

Republic of India
Prime Minister Nehru (1947-1964)
His daughter (Indira Gandhi) as Prime
Minister (1966-1977, 1980-1984)

Nehrus legacies
His grandson
Rajiv Gandhi
Prime Minister (1984-1989)

His granddaughter-in-law
Sonja Gandhi
Congress party president
(1999 - )

Worlds largest democracy

Resilient democratic institutions,
processes, and legitimacy
except 1975-1977
Indira Gandhi declared national emergency

politics in India is characterized by

governments of precarious coalitions
weakened political institutions
political activism along ethnic lines

Turnout % in General Elections

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1952

1957

1962
Male

1967

1971

1977

1980

1984

Female

1989

1991

1996

1998

Total

1999

A federal system
28 states and 6 centrally administered
Union Territories
2 states are partially claimed by Pakistan and
China

Federal system
Relatively centralized
federal government controls the most
essential government functions
defense
foreign policy
taxation
public expenditures
economic (industrial) planning

The legislature
Parliamentary system of government
the executive authority is responsible to the
Parliament

The legislature
bicameral Parliament
Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
Lok Sabha (House of the People)

Elections to Lok Sabha

Vote share of 3 major political parties

Prime Minister
Leader of the majority party leader in Lok
Sabha becomes the prime minister
prime minister nominates a cabinet
members of Parliament in the ruling coalition
Council of Ministers

effective power is concentrated in the

office of the prime minister
where most of the important policies originate

Prime Ministers of India

38 years in the Nehru-Gandhi family
more and more rapid turnover

Economic development
Under Prime Minister Nehrus rule
private property and government guidance
powerful planning commission
government rules and regulations
opportunities and incentives for corruption

self-sufficiency
domestic sector was protected from foreign
competition
protected industries became inefficient

Economic development
The green revolution in agriculture
new agricultural strategy in late 1960s
seeds, fertilizer, and irrigation
India became self-sufficient in food

Economic development
state-led economic development
government-planned private economy
substantial industrial base

Economic liberalization
Dissatisfaction with the relatively slow
economic growth
dismantle controls over private sector
further integrate into global economy

Financial crisis in early 1990s

emergency funds from IMF & World Bank
conditional on economic liberalization
reduce government budget deficit
selling government shares in public enterprises

Foreign direct investment

4000000000

3500000000

3000000000

2500000000

2000000000

1500000000

1000000000

500000000

-500000000
Bangladesh

India

Pakistan

Economic liberalization
Economic performance
average growth rate of 6% since 1990
reducing poverty by about 10 percentage
points
purchasing power parity GDP: $3 trillion

Economic liberalization
India has large numbers of well-educated
people skilled in the English language
India is a major exporter of software services
and software workers