{"title":"Book review: Nazima Parveen, Contested Homelands: Politics of Space and Identity","authors":"Shruti A. Dubey","doi":"10.1177/23210230231204671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231204671","url":null,"abstract":"Nazima Parveen, Contested Homelands: Politics of Space and Identity. New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2021, 311 pages, ₹1,299.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"90 s385","pages":"346 - 347"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138622557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Economic Ideology in Indian Politics: Why Do Elite and Mass Politics Differ?","authors":"Rahul Verma, Pradeep K. Chhibber","doi":"10.1177/23210230231209450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231209450","url":null,"abstract":"A long line of scholarship has argued that ideological division structures party politics in many parts of the world. In India, however, there is a long-held consensus that the parties do not sort themselves ideologically, especially regarding economic policymaking. The paper analyses National Election Studies data between 1996 and 2019 by Lokniti-CSDS, and shows that voters cluster around the centre-left position on economic issues. Nevertheless, there are discernible ideological differences among the party members. The Bhartiya Janata Party members are more likely to favour privatisation, and members of Left parties prefer labour rights. These ideological differences are also evident in our analysis of the manifestos of political parties since 1952 and an expert survey conducted in 2022. We argue that these elite differences in economic policy do not translate into mass politics because all political parties present the State as the solution to economic deprivation. The rise of welfare populism in Indian politics in the past two decades, we suggest, is a result of centralisation within political parties in which the welfare promises are directly linked to the party leaders.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":" 1","pages":"274 - 288"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138618069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Where the Madness Lies: Citizen Accounts of Identity and Nationalism","authors":"Jigyasa Sogarwal","doi":"10.1177/23210230231203793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231203793","url":null,"abstract":"Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Where the Madness Lies: Citizen Accounts of Identity and Nationalism. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, 2023, 287 pages, ₹950.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"112 3","pages":"347 - 349"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138621770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial Note","authors":"Suhas Palshikar","doi":"10.1177/23210230231205899","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231205899","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"118 13","pages":"169 - 169"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138608156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Urban Voter: Emerging Trend and Changing Pattern","authors":"Sanjay Kumar","doi":"10.1177/23210230231203797","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231203797","url":null,"abstract":"The recent phenomenon of growing urbanization in India has shifted the focus from rural vote to urban vote in electoral politics. The discussion on urban politics and urban vote revolves largely around two issues—first the issue of turnout and second, a somewhat different political choice among the urban voters compared to the rural voters. The two issues have been highlighted by the fact that urban constituencies have registered lower turnout compared to the turnout in rural constituencies. Among the former, the constituencies of big metropolitan cities register much lower turnout compared to the constituencies of small and medium towns. Results of various elections in the past indicate that the backbone of electoral support of the BJP during the late 1990s is its strong support among the urban voters. The BJP’s strong support base among the urban voters enabled it to emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha during the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections enabling it to form a coalition government along with other regional parties. This article tries to seek answers to the question, why do we see this distinct difference in voting patterns among rural and urban voters, especially till 2009 Lok Sabha elections, though it has changed somewhat during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections? Is it because the rural India and Urban India represent two different kinds of voters, or is it because the issues and concerns of rural and urban voters are vastly different from each other which make them vote differently?","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"97 2","pages":"304 - 316"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138622265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Nation’s ‘Steel Frame’ to Insubordinate Workers: Tracing Changes in the Figure of the Post-colonial Civil Servant from 1947 to 1966","authors":"Vipin Krishna","doi":"10.1177/23210230231203772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231203772","url":null,"abstract":"The Indian Civil Service, and consequently, the Indian bureaucracy, was reformed periodically, starting in 1854, then in 1966, and then later in 2007. Each process of reform generated a set of reports known as the Administrative Reforms Commission reports which provide us with an analytical picture of the mode of historical state-rationality espoused at that time. While, usually, these reports were aimed at reforming the bureaucracy, they also betrayed the anxieties of the Indian state itself. Primarily using these reports from the 1966 period, this article examines the post-colonial Indian bureaucracy through three facets, namely, aesthetic imagery, Public Administration, and the notion of the public. Ultimately, it attempts to track changes in state-ideology from 1947 to 1966, through the figure of the civil servant.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":" 14","pages":"170 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138609659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Obituary","authors":"Suhas Palshikar","doi":"10.1177/23210230231206852","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231206852","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":" 547","pages":"353 - 354"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138611039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Electoral Participation and Political Choice Among Muslims","authors":"Mohd. Sanjeer Alam","doi":"10.1177/23210230231203796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231203796","url":null,"abstract":"Muslims are the largest minority group in India. As a minority group, their electoral participation and expression has drawn wide religious attention of scholars. However, much of the discussion around Muslims’ electoral participation and political preference is either based on speculations or on sketchy field studies. This article, drawing upon large scale representative surveys, analyses Muslims’ electoral participation and choices since 1990s. It argues that inferences about the community’s electoral behaviour at the national level are misleading. Its electoral behaviour can better be understood by locating them in politically differentiated contexts.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":"124 11","pages":"289 - 303"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138609187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Age and Party Choice: Generational Shift in India","authors":"K. Kailash, Orcid Id","doi":"10.1177/23210230231203784","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231203784","url":null,"abstract":"India is in the throes of a massive demographic turn. People born and brought up after 1986 constitute the bulk of the population. Studies elsewhere show that generational replacement transforms societies and can play a key role in changing the political attitudes and behaviour of the electorate. Over the last few general elections the Indian National Congress has witnessed a steady decline in support, while the Bharatiya Janata Party has seen a surge in support. This article examines whether the decline of the Congress party is linked to a demographic shift that is taking place. The study demonstrates that generations as socio-historical space helps us nuance party-choice explanations.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":" 3","pages":"208 - 224"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138610282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mapping Class and Electoral Participation in India from 1996 to 2019","authors":"Divya Vaid","doi":"10.1177/23210230231206649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23210230231206649","url":null,"abstract":"This article studies the relation between class and electoral participation. While the relation between political participation and many demographic variables such as caste, gender, age and location has been well researched in India, the same is not the case for the relation between class and electoral participation. Multiple measures of class (income, asset-wealth, occupation and education) are explored and conceptualized in this article, following which these measures of class are operationalized using the National Election Study datasets covering a twenty-three-year period (1996–2019). Each of these measures is used to trace the relation of class with two outcomes of electoral participation (turnout and party vote share) over time. Disaggregation by gender, locality and caste is provided. Finally, regression analysis to study the impact of these variables on turnout and vote share reveals the complexity of class. We find a complex picture of turnout and party choice with variation across different class measures. More significantly, variations in results raise questions about the usefulness of existing class indices. Further, we find that the type of measure being used affects different outcomes differently. For turnout, income and wealth seem to be better predictors, and for party vote share, subjective class is a better fit, whereas asset-wealth displays opposite patterns to income and subjective class in some instances.","PeriodicalId":42918,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Indian Politics","volume":" 8","pages":"225 - 257"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138610291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}