1

1 THE INDIAN POLITY

Course Overview

This course will thematically introduce students to the evolution of governance systems

in India, state institutions, the political system and its future direction.

It will study the Indian polity, provide historical background and elucidate key themes

in Indian politics such as federalism, Centre-State relations, the breakdown of the ‘Congress

system’, the rise of Hindu nationalism, the profusion of regional and caste-based parties,

coalition politics and the rise of new social movements. It will critically analyse the evolution

of key constituent organs of the state -- Parliament, the judiciary, the bureaucracy and non-

state actors -- and how they are evolving within a post-economic reform, post-media

revolution context. While primarily drawing upon theoretical frameworks from political

science, this is an interdisciplinary course covering a range of cross-cutting ideas. Relevant

concepts and historical foundations will be provided in the course of discussing these issues.

This course is ideal for those interested in understanding modern India, political

economy, governance and the state and the challenges of public policy. This is an

interdisciplinary course covering a range of issues cutting across various sectors. Relevant

concepts, frameworks, and historical foundations will be provided in the course of

discussing these issues.

Course Structure and Pedagogy

This is an interdisciplinary course covering a range of issues cutting across various sectors. Relevant concepts, frameworks, and historical foundations will be provided in the course of discussing these issues. The course will taught through a mix of class lectures and classroom discussions.

Course Materials

The course materials and readings will be provided online (Blackboard and/or Google drive).

2

THE INDIAN POLITY: DEMOCRACY AND THE STATE

COURSE TOPICS AND READINGS

1. Introduction to Indian Political Economy

Required Readings

- Jean Dreze, Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions (New Delhi:

Penguin, 2013), pp. 1-44.

- Ashutosh Varshney, India’s Improbable Democracy: Battles Half Won (New Delhi: Penguin,

2013), pp. 3-44

2. Indian Federalism: Centre-State Relations

Required Readings

- Arvind Panagariya, Pinaki Chakrabarty, M. Govinda Rao, State Level Reforms, Growth and

Development in Indian States (New Delhi: Oxford University Press), pp. 1-55.

- Ashutosh Varshney, India’s Improbable Democracy: Battles Half Won (New Delhi: Penguin,

2013), pp. 169-203.

3. The Decline of the ‘Congress System’

Required Readings - Rajni Kothari, ‘The Congress ‘System’ in India’ republished in Zoha Hasan (ed.), Parties and

Politics in India (New Delhi: Oxford University, 2014, first published 2002), pp. 39-55. - Nalin Mehta, ‘What Congress Can Learn from the Decline of British Liberals’, The Times of

India, 31 March 2015.

4. Hindu Nationalism and the BJP

Required Readings

- Ashutosh Varshney, India’s Improbable Democracy: Battles Half Won (New Delhi: Penguin,

2013), pp. 99-131.

- Christophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s

(New Delhi: Penguin, 1999, first published 1996), pp. 522-550; 369-410.

- Nalin Mehta, ‘BJP’s New Shah’, The Times of India, 11 August 2014.

5. Does Caste Still Matter? Reservations, Castes and Politics

Required Readings

- Christoph Jaffrelot, India’s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Low Castes in North Indian

Politics (New Delhi: Penguin, 2003), pp. 1-10, pp. 147-184, pp. 335-386.

- Zoya Hasan, ‘Representation and Redistribution: The New Lower Caste Politics of North India’,

Zoya Hasan (ed.), ‘Parties and Politics in India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014), first

published 2002, pp. 370,396

3

6. Dalit PoIitics

Required Readings

- Christoph Jaffrelot, India’s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Low Castes in North Indian

Politics (New Delhi: Penguin, 2003), pp. 387-425.

7. Kisans: Peasant politics and reform

Required Readings

- Ashok Gulati, ‘Revamping Agriculture and the Public Distribution System’, Bibek Debroy,

Ashley J. Tellis, Reece Trevor, Getting India Back on Track: An Action agenda for Reform (New

Delhi: Random House, 2014), pp. 55-72.

- Shekhar Gupta, ‘Zeroing in on Five Myths’, India Today 11 June 2015

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/farmer-agriculture-business-subsidy-shekhar-gupta-

economy/1/443900.html

- Christoph Jaffrelot, India’s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Low Castes in North Indian

Politics (New Delhi: Penguin, 2003), pp. 254-304

8. Regional Parties and Sub-Nationalisms: The Telangana Case

Required Readings - Rama Rao Bonaganin, ‘Assertion of a Region: Exploring the Demand for Telengana’ in

Ashutosh Kumar, Rethinking State Politics in India: Regions Within Regions (New Delhi: Routledge: 2011), pp. 197-219

9. Regional Parties: Shiv Sena Required Readings

- Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Uday Singh Mehta, Usha Thakkar, ‘The Rebirth of the Shiv Sena: The

Symbiosis of Discursive and Organisational Power’ in Zoya Hasan (ed.), Parties and Politics in India

(New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014), first published 2002, pp. 257-286.

- Sujata Anandan, Hindu Hriday Samrat: How The Shiv Sena Changed Mumbai Forever (New Delhi:

HarperCollins, 2014), pp. 1-36

- Manu Joseph, ‘Why the Shiv Sena is Promoting Fun’, The Hindustan Times, 23 Feb. 2015, http://www.hindustantimes.com/manujoseph/a-world-of-fun-for-everyone/article1-1319609.aspx

10. Parliament

Required Readings

- Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, ‘The Indian Parliament as an Institution of Accountability’

Democracy, Governance and Human Rights, Programme Paper 23, 2007, UN Research

Institute of Social Development

https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/casi.sas.upenn.edu/files/bio/uploads/The%20Indian%20Pa

rliament.pdf

4

- Nalin Mehta, ‘Missing in Action’, The Times of India, 8 Jan. 2015

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/academic-interest/missing-in-action-parliament-

is-logjammed-but-real-democratic-problem-is-in-state-legislatures-which-meet-much-less/

11. Judiciary

Required Readings

Pratap Bhanu Mehta, ‘The Rise of judicial Sovereignty’, Journal of Democracy, April 2007, Vol. 18,

No. 2, pp. 70-83

12. Bureaucracy

Required Readings

- Bibek Debroy, ‘Correcting the Administrative Deficit’, in Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis, Reece

Trevor, Getting India Back on Track: An Action agenda for Reform (New Delhi: Random House,

2014), pp. 265-280.

13. Defence

Required Readings

- Stephen P Cohen, Sunil Dasgupta, Arming Without Aiming: India’s Military Modernization

(New Delhi: Penguin), 2010, pp. 1-29

- Nalin Mehta, ‘The Soldier’s Right: Why Arguments against OROP are Misleading’, The Times

of India, 16 June 2015. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/academic-interest/the-

soldiers-right-why-the-arguments-against-one-rank-one-pension-are-misleading/

11. Maoism

Required Readings

- John Harriss, ‘What is Going in India’s ‘Red Corridor’? Questions About India’s Maoist

Insurgency: A Literature Review, in Robin Jeffrey, Ronojoy Sen, Pratima Singh (eds), More than

Maoism: Politics, Policies and Insurgencies in South Asia (New Delhi: Manohar, 2012)pp. 25-46

- Pratima Singh, ‘The Affected Districts Database’ in Robin Jeffrey, Ronojoy Sen, Pratima Singh

(eds), More than Maoism: Politics, Policies and Insurgencies in South Asia (New Delhi: Manohar,

2012)pp. 163-178

-

14. Health and Education

Required Readings

- AK Shiva Kumar, ‘Confronting Health Challenges’, Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis, Reece

Trevor, Getting India Back on Track: An Action agenda for Reform (New Delhi: Random

House, 2014), pp. 121-134.

- Leveesh Bhandari, ‘Expanding Education Skills’, Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis, Reece Trevor,

Getting India Back on Track: An Action agenda for Reform (New Delhi: Random House,

2014), pp. 103-120.

5

- Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (New York:

Penguin, 20130, pp. 45-80