PSIR Answer Writing Module - Target 2024

Model Answers
Test 10

For any concern related with PSIR Test Series mail at psirtestseries@shubhraranjan.com

1. Examine the transformation of the social composition of the Indian parliament over the
years. How the changing profile of parliamentarians have impacted the functioning of
parliamentary democracy in India?

ANSWER

Members of Parliament represent the hopes and aspirations of the people of India. They play
a significant part in furthering the social and economic welfare of Indian citizens.
Parliamentary discussions have a substantial impact on a wide range of subjects such as
health, education, agriculture, internal security, and infrastructure.

The social composition of the Indian Parliament over the years and its impact on
parliamentary democracy-

1. Age- The average age of the MPs has increased from 46.5 years during the first Lok
Sabha to 56 years in the current or 16th Lok Sabha. The 15th Lok Sabha was the oldest
in independent India, with an average age of 57.9 years, followed by the 16th Lok
Sabha. The average age of an MP is 54 years in 17th Lok Sabha.
a. The average age of Indian MPs is considerably higher than MPs in Britain,
which is currently 51 years. Indeed, the median age of Indian MPs at 58 years
is more than double the current median age in India, which is 27 years.
b. MPs aged 56-70 years have the highest share of seats – 44 per cent while this
demographic accounts for only eight per cent of the total population. Thus, we
have a situation where India, one of the youngest nations in the world, has
elected considerably older representatives.
c. If we use metrics such as attendance, questions asked and debate
participation, we find that, on average, older MPs perform their parliamentary
functions more conscientiously than younger MPs. This could be because older
MPs are more experienced and familiar with parliamentary procedures. They
are also more likely to be nominated by their party to take part in debates
2. Dynastic MPs: An analysis of the 15th Lok Sabha came up with the startling result that
all the MPs under the age of 30 were dynastic or hereditary.
a. This implies that barriers to contesting and winning elections, particularly the
high financial costs, remain very significant for young candidates and those
 from families that have prior links to politics have a better chance of winning
elections.
3. Education- Educational qualifications of MPs have shown a gradual and consistent
rise, along with the rise of literacy levels in India, which stood at 12 per cent at the
time of independence and was 74 per cent in 2011. The number of graduates in the
parliament has risen while the number of MPs who did not finish school (under
matriculates in Indian terminology) and those with school leaving certificates
(matriculates) has fallen.
a. 75 per cent of the MPs elected in the 16th Lok Sabha had, at least, a graduate
degree, compared to 37 per cent in the first Lok Sabha. The 16th Lok Sabha
had 20% of MPs who had studied till 12th class. Since 1996, at least 75% of
representatives of each Lok Sabha have been graduates.
b. In the 17th Lok Sabha, 27% of MPs have studied till 12th class.
c. Again, using metrics such as attendance, questions asked and debate
participation, we find that MPs with lower educational qualifications are on a
par with those more highly qualified. This debunks the popular perception that
less educated representatives are a threat to parliamentary functioning and
democracy. The quality of interventions by MPs with different educational
backgrounds though is difficult to quantify and assess
4. Occupational background- One of the most significant changes in the occupational
background of members of Lok Sabha is the dramatic decline in the number of lawyers
who are being elected. Lawyers predictably constituted a third of the MPs in the first
parliament, given their leading role in the nationalist movement. This has fallen to only
seven per cent in the 16th Lok Sabha. 39% of MPs have listed their occupation as
political and social work. In 17th Lok Sabha, 38% are engaged in agricultural activities.
23% of MPs are businessmen. Only 4% of MPs are lawyers. Several MPs have declared
more than one occupation. The rise in the number of businesspersons in the Lok Sabha
is in tune with other democracies. In Britain, for example, nearly 31 per cent of MPs
are businesspersons. 9 This is partly a reflection of the high costs of contesting and
winning elections. It also brings into focus the role of the conflict of interest in
formulating legislation and policy.
5. Female representation- 716 women candidates contested the General Election. Of
these, 78 women MPs have been elected to the 17th Lok Sabha. In 2014, 62 women
MPs were elected.
a. The representation of women MPs in Lok Sabha is slowly improving from 5%
in the 1st Lok Sabha to 14 % in the 17th Lok Sabha.
b. Though the percentage of women MPs has increased over the years, it is still
lower compared to countries like Rwanda (61%), South Africa (43%), the UK
(32%), the USA (24%), and Bangladesh (21%).
6. OBC representation- The percentage of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has
progressively risen from 12 per cent in the first Lok Sabha to around 25 per cent in the
9th - a level at which it still remains.
a. The doubling of the share of the OBCs in the parliament was a result of the
forces unleashed by the Mandal Commission Report, which was tabled in the
 parliament in 1990 and recommended 27 per cent reservations for the OBCs.
Political scientist Yogendra Yadav famously called this transformation the
“third electoral system”, contrasting it to two earlier phases, when the
Congress was dominant from 1952 to 1967 and from 1967 to 1989, as it began
losing elections in several states to a united opposition
7. The percentage of SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs) has, however, remained fairly
steady, due to the system of reserved constituencies for SCs and STs. However, the
percentage of Muslims in the parliament has consistently been lower than their share
of the population, reaching a high of around 10 per cent in the 7th Lok Sabha before
declining subsequently. In the 16th Lok Sabha, the share of Muslims in the parliament
was the lowest ever at five per cent.

In sum, the current parliament is very different from the ones during the early years of the
Indian republic. Members unsurprisingly have much higher educational qualifications, but
they are also older. The parliament has more women members, compared to the early years,
but women continue to be grossly under-represented. Perhaps the most important changes
are the caste composition and the occupational background of the MPs. The parliament is
now much more diverse as well as more representative of Indian society and this has had an
impact on the way the institution functions. There are many more OBC and lower caste
representatives in the parliament, along with fewer lawyers. At the same time, the number
of agriculturalists, businesspersons and political workers has increased significantly.

These changes are the likely reason for the post-independence consensus on British
parliamentary norms and the functioning of the parliament having cracked since the late
1980s. As political scientist Ashutosh Varshney argued about the transformation in India from
the 1980s, “Democracy has been substantially indigenized, and the shadow of Oxbridge has
left India’s political centre-stage.” This has led to literally a different language being spoken
on the floor of the House with English increasingly sharing the stage with Hindi and the other
regional languages. This indigenisation has also led to parliamentary practices, such as
frequent disruptions, which were rare in the first three decades of independent India.

2. The dynamics of General Elections in India raise important questions upon several
assumptions that underpinned the wisdom on electoral behaviour in contemporary India.
Comment.

ANSWER

According to Prof Zoya Hasan, the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence is a landmark
event in the history of our democracy. It is for this reason a significant moment to assess the
state of India’s democracy. As the largest democracy in the non-western world, India’s general
election is the largest exercise of popular will in any country. Elections certainly are a climactic
moment of the democratic process.
According to Milan Vaishnav, and Danielle Smogard, If trends witnessed in India’s 2014
election persist, the country may have closed the book on twenty-five years of electoral
politics and moved into a new era.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR

1. Good economics can make for good politics in India. While parochial considerations
have long been thought to play a central role in shaping voters’ choices, evidence from
state and national elections suggests that macroeconomic realities are becoming
increasingly relevant.
2. There has been much discussion of regional parties’ increasing influence in Indian
politics. However recent electoral trends reveal a surprising degree of stability in the
balance of power between national and regional parties.
3. Dynastic politics may not be popular, but dynastic politicians are. At least one in five
members of parliament elected in 2014 came from a political family.
4. Indian voters have a long history of electing politicians who are the subject of ongoing
criminal cases. The 2014 results demonstrate an underlying demand for politicians
who can get things done—even if they are connected with wrongdoing.
5. When voters cast their vote, they do not necessarily vote for their caste. Social biases
remain entrenched in India, but the transmission of those biases into the political
domain is imperfect and may be weakening.
6. While the regional-national balance of power is steady, there has been an upheaval
among national parties. For now, the ascendant BJP has replaced the foundering
Indian National Congress as the pole around which political competition is organized.
7. Politicians who seek to gain strength using identity-based appeals alone have
generally not fared well. While voters may harbour deep-seated social biases, identity-
based concerns and economic evaluations are both in play. As Neelanjan Sircar has
pointed out, identity is relatively fixed but there is a significant degree of electoral
volatility in India. The most successful politicians have mastered the art of skillfully
combining both types of appeals.
8. The composition of the candidate pool does not appear to be shifting, despite an
increase in the absolute number of parties contesting elections. Voters have more
choices than ever before, yet there is little qualitative change in the nature of the
candidates themselves.
a. For starters, Indian voters might value leaders who are honest, upstanding,
and effective, but at the end of the day, they are selecting local candidates who
will be charged with looking after their interests. Given the realities of state
weakness and the real and perceived distance between the state and the
places where most Indians reside, within their constituencies, voters might be
inclined to put their faith in someone willing to use whatever means are at his
disposal to get things done.
b. Secondly, voters are not rewarding politicians with criminal reputations
because they have an interest in rewarding misgovernance; rather, they are
doing so precisely because they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that such
 candidates can use their no-holds-barred reputations and skills to provide the
very governance that has been absent. Until the quality of the state improves
or “clean” politicians can convincingly demonstrate that they can deliver, even
well-informed voters might have good reasons to seek the assistance of
candidates who try to pass off their criminal records as signs of their
competence.

When it comes to India, recent evidence presents a mixed picture. On the one hand, there
are important changes afoot, necessitating revision, if not full-scale replacement, of many
commonly held notions. On the other hand, the case for change has been overhyped when
one considers other important dimensions.

3. Analyse the nature of party politics in India in recent times. Explain the connection
between political parties and the phenomena of caste, class, and religion in India.

ANSWER

Since independence, India has experienced three distinct electoral phases or “systems,” to
borrow the phrase coined by political scientist Yogendra Yadav.

1. The first phase, beginning with India’s first general election in 1952, was synonymous
with Congress hegemony and deeply fragmented opposition. In 1967, Congress
suffered a series of devastating electoral losses at the state level, which marked the
unravelling of its hegemonic era.
2. The second system lasted from 1967 to 1989. For much of this period, Congress
maintained power in Delhi (except for 1977–1979), but its authority in the states was
increasingly challenged by a motley group of regional, largely caste-based parties.
3. With 1989 came the dawn of coalition-era politics in Delhi and the beginning of the
third electoral system. This system, which has evolved over two and a half decades
and prevailed until the present, is built around a series of core principles
A. a sharp rise in political competition at the national level
B. declining margins of victory in parliamentary races.
C. The vote share belonging to regional parties has also expanded,
D. growth in voter turnout in national elections has halted
E. electoral politics has become “federalized.”

The BJP’s breakthrough in 2014 prompted a debate about whether India had left the era of
multipolarity, fragmentation, and coalitions behind.

Some scholars downplayed the magnitude of the 2014 electoral verdict. Adam Ziegfeld has
held that “From the perspective of the vote shares won by the country’s main political parties,
not as much has changed as the news headlines might suggest,”
According to Rekha Diwakar, “Although the Congress decline has continued, and the BJP has
won many recent state assembly elections, it is premature to conclude that the Indian party
system has shifted to a BJP-dominated one.”

E. Sridharan wrote: “The results were dramatic, possibly even epochal. The electoral patterns
of the last quarter-century have undergone a sea change, and the world’s largest democracy
now has what appears to be a new party system headed by a newly dominant party.”

Pradeep Chhibber and Rahul Verma noted that with its historic victory, “the BJP has clearly
replaced the Congress as the system-defining party” and would likely become the “focal point
of electoral alignment and re-alignment” in India.

In 2009, the share of the regional party vote peaked at 52.6 per cent. In 2014, that share
dipped modestly to 48.6 per cent—roughly on par with the level of regional party support in
1998 and 1999. The election in 2019 marked a significant departure from this trend. In 2019,
the regional party vote share plummeted to 43.2 per cent.

Connection between political parties and the phenomena of caste, class, and religion

1. Political parties and the phenomena of caste- Group identity based on caste has been
reinforced by the emergence of political consciousness around caste identities.
Consequently, we have the upper caste-dominated BJP, the lower caste-dominated
BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) or the SP (Samajwadi Party), including the fact that left
parties have tacitly followed the caste pattern to extract mileage in electoral politics.
The Cumulative result of the politicisation is that caste-based identity politics has had
a dual role in Indian society and polity. It relatively democratised the caste-based
Indian society but simultaneously undermined the evolution of class-based
organisations.
2. Political parties and the phenomena of religion- Identity schemes based on religion
have become a major source of conflict and it has also become a challenge for Indian
democracy and secularism. The rise of majoritarian assertiveness is considered to have
become institutionalised after the BJP. In post-independence India the majoritarian
assertion has generated its antithesis in the form of minority religions assertiveness
and a resulting confrontational politics that undermines the syncretistic dimensions of
the civil society in India.
3. Political parties and the phenomena of class- According to Rahul Verma and Ankita
Barthwal, Politics in India has been based on caste in recent decades. However, a
rising middle class and increasing inequality within caste groups are paving the way
for a class-based faultline.

Hence according to, MILAN VAISHNAV and JAMIE HINTSON, India appears to have ushered in
a new dominant party system—one premised on a unique set of political principles, showing
a clear break with what came before.
4. Since there is a paradigm shift from government to governance in India, pressure groups
have started playing crucial roles in Indian Politics. Explain.

ANSWER

David B. Truman defines an interest group as "a shared attitude group that makes certain
claims upon the other groups in the society." One of the major trends in the democratic
political process is the increasing role of pressure groups.

Herman Finer viewed that it is perhaps now an axiom of political science that, where political
parties are weak in principles and organisation, the pressure groups will flourish. Indian
political parties are weak in principles and organisation. Therefore, pressure groups are
supposed to be very significant in the functioning of the Indian political System. Many
pressure groups played, and are playing a very robust, creative and balanced role in improving
governance.

1. The unrelenting efforts of Lok Satta and Janaagraha led to significant improvements
in voter registration over the past two decades.
2. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the People’s Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL) have been at the forefront of the disclosure of details of candidates
for elective office.
3. The remarkable work of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), National Campaign
for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI), and many other organizations in enacting
the Right to Information Act has been perhaps the best documented civil society
success for governance reform
4. The enactment of the Lokpal Act after decades of advocacy, and the memorable
campaign of India Against Corruption (IAC) led by Anna Hazare is also one example of
pressure groups' crucial role in Indian politics.
5. Thanks to the collective efforts and advocacy of organizations like FDR, Lok Satta,
Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and eminent Indians, the Supreme Court
cancelled 122 licenses of 2-G spectrum, ordered transparent bidding; and directed
that all natural resources in future should be allocated by a competitive, transparent
bidding process.

Interest groups pursuing the causes they believe in and persuading the political parties,
governments and legislatures during and between elections is an integral part of a vibrant
democratic process

5. Analyse the nature of transformation in agrarian relations due to the results of the Green
Revolution in India.

ANSWER

In India, the Green Revolution was launched under the guidance of geneticist Dr. M. S.
Swaminathan. It started around the 1960s and helped in increasing food production in the
country. The Green Revolution's primary aim was to introduce high-yielding varieties (HYVs)
of cereals to alleviate poverty and malnutrition.

The rapid social and economic transformations that were seen in Green Revolution areas
stimulated a spate of studies by social scientists, and vigorous debates about the impact of
the Green Revolution.

1. Apart from maintaining the agricultural growth rates, the critical impact of the Green
Revolution was that it generated a rapid increase in the marketable surplus of food
grains.
2. The Green Revolution also changed the country’s politics, the effects of which are still
being felt today. Aditya Dasgupta says that the Green Revolution was influential in
the rise of agrarian opposition parties in the 1970s and the accompanying decline of
the Congress. The Green Revolution significantly reduced Congress’s share of votes
and seats in assemblies. He also shows that as the share of farmland planted with HYV
seeds increased, the vote and seat share of agrarian opposition parties also rose
significantly. According to Dasgupta, there were three channels through which the
Green Revolution generated these changes-
a. It provided wealth to farmers, especially lower and intermediate caste farmers,
who until then had been excluded and unrepresented in politics
b. It intensified farmers’ dependence on the government for inputs and subsidies
which were needed for growing HYV crops. This created a strong incentive for
farmers to seek political representation.
c. The increased production from the Green Revolution depressed crop prices,
providing a rallying point for farmers and enabling collective action.
3. Some scholars have argued that it was primarily the medium and large farmers who
were able to benefit from the new technology because inputs were expensive, and
small and marginal farmers could not afford to spend as much as large farmers to
purchase these inputs. It was the large farmers who reaped the most benefits from
the Green Revolution and from the commercialisation of agriculture that followed.
a. However, according to Bipan Chandra, the Green Revolution, far from pushing
the small farmer into the ranks of the landless, actually enabled him to survive.
With the adoption of new technology, improved seeds and other agricultural
inputs, the small farmer became relatively more viable and did not have to sell
out to the large farmer in distress. Studies such as those of G.S. Bhalla and G.K.
Chadha have confirmed this phenomenon
4. The Green Revolution seemed to increase inequalities in rural society. Well-to-do
farmers who had access to resources such as land, capital, technology, and know-how,
could increase their production.
a. However, in many cases, it led to the displacement of tenant cultivators.
Landowners began to take back land from their tenants and cultivate it directly
because cultivation was becoming more profitable. This made the rich farmers
better off and worsened the condition of the landless and marginal holders.
 b. Tenants and sharecroppers, who did not have security of tenure came under
pressure as rents and land values rose rapidly in areas where the Green
Revolution spread.
c. ‘Secure’ tenants and sharecroppers were, however, like landowning small
peasants, beneficiaries of the new technology.
5. The introduction of machinery such as tillers, tractors, threshers, and harvesters led
to the displacement of the service caste groups who used to carry out these
agriculture-related activities. This process of displacement also increased the pace of
rural-urban migration.
a. However, Bipan Chandra held that the net impact of tractorization, taking into
account the increase in cropping intensity etc., was an increased demand for
labour.
b. The fear that indiscriminate mechanization would lead to displacement of
labour also does not appear to have materialized on a significant scale in any
part of the country till today
6. The Green Revolution did, however, contribute to an increase in inequality in the
countryside. But the poor too benefited in absolute terms though their well-to-do
neighbours did far better relatively.
7. Some of the earliest reports such as those of Daniel Thorner and those of Ladejinsky
confirm that, while inequity increased, the poor including the small peasant and the
landless agricultural labourer benefited. Real wages of agricultural labour consistently
rose in areas where the Green Revolution spread.
8. Interstate disparities in agricultural wages began to decline from the mid-1970s, partly
because of the migration of labour from the backward regions to the Green Revolution
areas.
9. In the second phase of the Green Revolution which began in the 1980s, farmers living
in the dry and semi-arid regions of India began following Green Revolution cultivation
practices. In these areas, there has been a significant shift from dry to wet (irrigated)
cultivation, along with changes in the cropping pattern and type of crops grown.
a. Increasing commercialisation and dependence on the market in these areas
(for instance, where cotton cultivation has been promoted) has increased
rather than reduced livelihood insecurity, as farmers who once grew food for
consumption now depend on the market for their incomes.
b. In market-oriented cultivation, especially where a single crop is grown, a fall in
prices or a bad crop can spell financial ruin for farmers. In most of the Green
Revolution areas, farmers have switched from a multi-crop system, which
allowed them to spread risks, to a mono-crop regime, which means that there
is nothing to fall back on in case of crop failure.
c. Another negative outcome of the Green Revolution strategy was the
worsening of regional inequalities. The areas that underwent this
technological transformation became more developed while other areas
stagnated. For instance, the Green Revolution was promoted more in the
western and southern parts of the country, and in Punjab, Haryana, and
western U.P., than in the eastern parts of the country.
 d. There are regions that continue to have an entrenched ‘feudal’ agrarian
structure, in which the landed castes and landlords maintain power over the
lower castes, landless workers and small cultivators. The sharp caste and class
inequalities, together with exploitative labour relations, in these regions have
given rise to various kinds of violence (including inter-caste violence) in recent
years.
10. The Green Revolution has made a significant positive impact on boosting the rural
non-farm economy. It has led to sizeable increases in returns to land thereby raising
farmers’ incomes. Since farmers and agricultural labour comprise a sizeable
proportion of the rural population, a rise in their income due to agricultural
development enhances the demand for locally produced goods and services thereby
augmenting the employment and income in the non-farm sectors.
11. Moreover, the expansion of demand for farm inputs, repairs & maintenance of farm
tools and machines, transportation and marketing services, agro-processing, etc.
generates additional income and employment to rural households engaged in non-
agricultural activities.

In summary, the Green Revolution had a major impact on rural poverty levels through its
impact on food availability, the decline in relative prices of food (the most important item of
expenditure for the poor), the generating of agricultural and non-agricultural employment,
the rise in wages and so on. The link between the spread of agricultural growth or the Green
Revolution in an area and the fall in the numbers of the rural population living below the
poverty line in that area is now widely accepted and can be seen to be operating in a large
and growing part of the country. With the majority of the Indian population still dependent
on agriculture the critical importance of spreading the Green Revolution type of development
as an anti-poverty measure has been widely recognized. All the above forces combined led to
the emergence of multi-party competition in Indian politics.

6. What are the problems associated with using ethnicity in Indian politics? Examine the
relationship between ethnic conflicts and democracy in India.

ANSWER

Ethnicity denotes selected cultural and physical characteristics used to categorize people into
groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others. Ethnicity and Ethnic
Politics is an important Phenomena of Plural Societies. In the developing world, ethnic politics
is one of the main reasons for internal instability. Ethnic conflict leads towards ethnic politics
which is often conceived as a conflict among ethnic groups.

Problems associated with using ethnicity in Indian politics

1. The challenges posed by ethnic groups in India have taken the form of
a. autonomy movements,
b. secessionist movements,
c. insurgency,
 d. violent conflicts based on identity markers such as language, religion, tribe,
caste, etc.

The first three forms listed above are also called self-determination movements.

2. According to Virginius Xaxa, The political ‘reservation’ that the Indian state extends
to the minority ethnic groups has been successful in their coalescing into the so-called
‘mainstream’ of Indian society, however, it has not helped much in the direction of
protecting their rights over their land, forest, and other resources or in making a
substantive contribution in the decision-making process, consequently, the concept
of “politicization of ethnicity” emerges.
3. With the advent of globalization and the shift towards modernization, the inequality
gap between ethnicities has widened to such an extent that a hierarchical system
has been established, and this facilitates the upper strata to bogart all the benefits
while the lower levels are devoid of it.
4. The politicization of ethnicity emerges amongst the minority group to change the
existing unequal status quo in lieu of accruing such benefits, thus, creating
competition among ethnic lines for power, economic advancement, societal status,
opportunity, etc.
5. Ethnicity and ethnic conflicts in India are characterised by dispersed ethnic systems
and ethnic fluidity. Hence, ethnic unrest remains localised, that is, confined to a
region or State. For instance, the ethnic conflict in the Northeast remains confined to
the region and Sikh and Hindu conflict is largely confined to Punjab. Similarly, caste
and language conflicts are confined within a locality, though sometimes, concessions
given to one ethnic group have led to demand for similar concessions from other
groups.
a. Thus, the demand of the Sikh groups for a separate state triggered counter
demands by the Hindu population of Punjab resulting in the creation of the
state of Haryana, carved out of Punjab in 1966.
b. Similarly, the creation of Nagaland in 1963 triggered demands for political
autonomy from other groups and led to the division of Assam into several new
states in 1972.
6. According to James Manor, closely related to the above feature is the fluidity of ethnic
identity, i.e., the absence of a strong and permanent attachment to a single identity.
Unlike people in most other societies, in India, people tend to shift their
preoccupations, readily and often from one identity to another and then another in
response to changing circumstances.
7. According to Sudha Pai, the imperatives of federalism in India, particularly with
linguistic states as a vital political category, have encouraged and strengthened
regional parties.
a. This has given impetus to the activation of ethnic identities and has
contributed to the process of conflict formation along ethnic lines.
8. There are two schools of thought as to why ethnic conflict arises in India.
 a. On the one side, Varshney and Breman focus on civil society, i.e. that which is
categorically non-political, and its relationship with conflict. This means
focusing on the networks of associational and everyday life that can lead to
peace, inferring that the absence of which can be a condition fueling ethnic
violence.
b. On the other side, Brass, Hansen, and Wilkinson focus on the role of politics
and the state in mediating the link between ethnicity and violence. This
includes assessing the production of violence itself, implicating political actors
and the electoral incentives of political parties and leaders.

Democratic Politics and Ethnicity

1. According to S D Muni, Dual impulses of ethnic integration and disintegration have

been released by the democratic politics of India. Democracy as an ideology and
system of governance centres around the individual; hence, it underplays the ethnic
specificity and group feelings of individuals. It also prescribes and permits the
pursuance of multiple interests by individuals, who accordingly associate with interest
groups that cut across ethnic identities.
2. Indian experience confirms this theoretical assumption. Adult franchises and
Panchayati Raj institutions in India have brought people together to communicate and
interact. This has given them a sense of sharing and access to decision-making power,
however ineffective and fragile this access may be. Communication and consciousness
of individual rights have bound them together in non-ethnic ties and prevented the
state from acquiring a specific ethnic character or bias.
3. D.L Seth, in discussing the problems of ethnic movements and the role of the state in
pluralistic societies, holds that: The forces generated by democratic politics prevent
the state from choosing a single cultural identity, even majoritarian, [as] the basis of
nationhood. Thus, the project of nation-building in a democratic polity becomes
inseparable from building a civil society. Such "civil societies" do not host ethnic
conflicts or movements in any negative sense of the term.
4. Democracy is helpful in averting ethnic precipitation in other ways, too. Freedom of
expression and powerful, sensitive national media not only promote a broader
national consensus but also alert and forewarn the state and society when ethnic
distortions and conflict formations become imminent.
5. According to Ratna Naidu, on the other side, though democratic ideology focuses on
the individual, political mobilization (electoral and otherwise) in a highly stratified,
diverse, and clustered society like India, has also taken place on a group basis.
Accordingly, caste blocs have acted as basic and lasting "vote banks" in democratic
elections. To some extent, the British legacy can be blamed for the communalization
of Indian politics, because concepts like "communal representation" were introduced
during the British period. But then, in independent India the reservation of elected
seats and constituencies for specific caste groups (Schedule Castes and Tribes), though
based on a strong commitment to social justice and change, has been a persistent
endorsement of politics based on social divisions. Political polarization on the Mandal
 Commission implementation and reservations for the Other Backward Castes (OBCs)
was an outcome of this legacy. The political tallying of lower castes and ethnic loyalties
has tended to encourage the upper castes and Hindu backlash emerging in the form
of Hindutva politics.
6. The root cause of the growing recourse to ethnic mobilization in India's democratic
politics has been the erosion of ideology and viable socioeconomic programmes
around which electoral and political mobilization ought to take place.
7. Mobilization along communal, caste, religious, regional, and tribal lines sought to fill
in the ideological vacuum. There followed a rise, both in number and political clout, of
ethnic and region-based parties.
8. Due to the federalization of politics and the rise of regional parties on ethnic lines, no
ethnic or regional party is capable of assuming power at the centre on its own. Parties
have therefore endeavoured to form alliances and coalitions with national parties to
evolve alternative and competing structures of power. Experiments like the Samyukt
Vidhayak Dal of the 1960s, the Janata Party of the 1970s, and the National Front since
the 1980s are examples. These experiments have tended to broaden and facilitate
national consensus rather than hinder it.
9. The more dangerous aspect of India's emerging democratic politics has been political
parties' ruthless and cynical use of communal and ethnic contradictions for short-
term, narrow political gains. Monsters of ethnic separatism and conflict were created
or encouraged out of such expediency.
10. James Manor, in the Indian context, contests the view that 'ethnic conflict' in India
poses a threat to democracy or the cohesion of the Indian state. He shows four
different types of identities in India that may be described as ethnic' either cut across
one another or never come into conflict; and how the tendency of Indians to give
priority to one or another level of identity as circumstances and preoccupations
change prevents the emergence of lasting fault-lines in society and politics. James
Manor has identified three ways in which ethnicity has been 'managed' in India, only
one of which, the 'accommodationist' approach, is successful.

Both integrative and disruptive forces have been simultaneously released by developmental
and political dynamics in India. It is the changing balance between these two mutually
incompatible forces that define the characteristics of the ethnic scene in the country.

7. Examine the dynamics of religion in Indian Politics. Map the trajectory of the role of
religion in Indian politics since Independence.

According to Milan Vaishnav, in India, the commingling of religion and politics is hardly novel.
Religion and politics are inseparable; they have always been intertwined in a complex way.
According to Romila Thapar, “The relationship between religion and politics had complex
dimensions in the past and cannot be explained away by a simple monocausal explanation
that reduces everything to a minimalist religious motivation.
 1. The Indian constitution established a secular republic that did not feature a strict
church-state separation, as in many Western democracies, but rather a “principled
distance” between religion and the state. The government, under this rubric,
endeavoured to maintain a measured embrace of India’s disparate religious
communities without unduly favouring any one group.
2. Since Independence the interface between religion and politics has acquired a still
newer form and various political parties found it more convenient to mobilize support
in their electoral battles with the help of religious factors.
3. There was communal peace during 1950-60 because in the aftermath of the partition,
as the communal forces were kept in check by the national leadership. Besides,
constitutional guarantees were also given to all minority religious groups.
4. However, from 1964 onwards, there was an upward trend in communal riots in India.
The 1960s was the worst decade when a large number of riots were triggered during
the period 1965-67, outbursts of violence recorded were 515
5. The 1980s experienced not only the growth of social divisions on a religious basis but
it also witnessed the emergence of religion-based politics as a central factor in
elections and public affairs. Thus the Indian States had to grapple with a new form of
religion-based politics to safeguard democracy and secularism. During this phase, the
religion-based parties evolved new strategies and organizational structures to
promote their political goals. The 1980s witnessed the emergence of a new
communalism which was militant and aggressive.

As held by Zenab Banu, India, despite partition based on religion, resolved to be a secular
state and promulgated its constitution in 1950 accepting equal rights for all citizens
irrespective of caste, creed or race. It was undoubtedly a great step forward. But, the Indian
state was characterised as Soft State’ by Gunner Myrdal in his Asian Drama. And it remained
soft towards communalism as well. The state remained not only soft towards communalism
it also encouraged it, if it paid political dividends. In this context, Gandhi becomes more
important who wrote that, "Religion is a personal matter which should have no place in
politics…..If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate, I swear by my religion I
will die for it But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it".

8. Understanding of nature and scope of the caste system in India is important for
comprehension of Politics in India. Elucidate.

Caste-based discrimination and oppression have been a pernicious feature of Indian society
and in the post-independence period, its imbrications with politics have not only made it
possible for hitherto oppressed caste groups to be accorded political freedom and recognition
but have also raised consciousness about its potential as a political capital.
As held by Dipankar Gupta, the Mandal Commission can be considered the intellectual
inspiration for transforming caste-based identity into an asset that may be used as a basis for
securing political and economic gains.

Nature and scope of the caste system

1. Rajni Kothari, in “Caste in Indian Politics”, argues that change in the nature of caste
has occurred because of the interaction between caste and political institutions. Rajni
Kothari emphasises three aspects while discussing the interaction between caste and
politics in India:
a. The first aspect can be seen in the form of ‘the secularisation of caste through
their political involvement. Due to secularisation, the caste's role is not
confined to its traditional role defined by principles of purity and impurity. It
helps in the mobilisation of castes for secular interests such as power and
employment and; has helped in the formation of inter-caste alliances and
coalitions.
b. The second aspect is related to the integration dimension. The caste system
not only differentiates individuals based on their caste/social identity but also
distinguishes them based on occupational and economic roles. ‘At the same
time, it is an integral structure of a specific type, namely one that is more
intense in its small group orientation and particularistic loyalties and where
wider loyalties operate only when they are structured through the prevailing
differentiations. This aspect is important in understanding the structural
impact of democratic nation-building.
c. The third aspect is when caste enters politics through consciousness and then
gets politicised. The practice of adult franchises in association with the
provision of political reservations has further strengthened consciousness
among the concerned communities.
Therefore, three consequences of such interaction can be deduced.
i. Firstly, caste members particularly poor and marginalized who
previously remained untouched by the political processes got
politicized and began to participate in electoral politics with an
expectation that their interests would be served.
ii. Secondly, caste members get split among various political parties
weakening the hold of the caste.
iii. Thirdly, numerically large castes get representation in decision-making
bodies and the strength of the traditionally dominant castes gets
weakened.
2. Castes articulate their interests by forming caste organisations. Rudolph and Rudolph
held that “the most significant aspect of the caste association in the contemporary era
is its capacity to organize politically illiterate mass electorate, thus making possible in
some measure the realization of its aspirations and educating large section of it in the
methods and values of political democracy”
3. Several studies have underlined the role of caste in empowering the people, especially
those from the marginalised sections of the society. Such as Jaffralot and Kumar, in
the book “Rise of the Plebeians? The Changing Face on Indian Legislative Assemblies”,
show that in the post-Independence period, the social profiles of several legislative
assemblies in India have seen an increase in the number of persons from plebeian or
marginalized caste groups such as the Dalits and the OBCs.
 4. In his book “Who Wants Democracy?” Javeed Alam suggests that the low castes find
caste as an empowering tool. Yogendra Yadav observes a shift in changing
participation of different social groups in terms of democratic upsurge due to the
effective role played by the caste organizations. He divides this upsurge into two
phases:
a. the phase of the first democratic upsurge indicating the rise of backward
classes during the 1960s-1970s;
b. the second phase of the democratic upsurge showing the increasing
participation of Dalits.
5. Caste Factor in Political Socialisation and Leadership Recruitment: Different caste
groups have their loyalties behind different political parties and their ideologies.
‘Caste values’ and caste interests influence people's socialisation and political
thinking, awareness and participation. People bank upon caste solidarity to occupy
and perform a leadership role. Caste influences the process of leadership recruitment.
6. Caste and Party Politics: The caste factor is a constituent of the Indian party system.
Some political parties have a direct caste basis while others indirectly bank upon
particular caste groups. Although all political parties in India use caste as a means of
securing votes in elections, in particular, the regional political parties are
predominantly influenced by the caste factor.
7. Caste and Elections: All political parties give great weightage to the caste factor in
selecting their candidates, allocating constituencies to their candidates and canvassing
support for their nominees in the election. Even avowedly secularist parties like the
Congress, the Janata Dal, the CPI and the CPM take into consideration the caste factor
in selecting their candidates. N.D. Palmer has observed that “Caste considerations are
given great weight in the selection of candidates and the appeals to voters during
election campaigns.” In elections, caste acts as the most important political party.

Rajni Kothari underscores that the alleged ‘casteism in politics’ is thus no more or no less
than the politicization of caste. In other words, it is not politics that gets impacted by caste, it
is caste that gets politicised. Caste is one of the most important aspects of social and political
life in India. As a social institution, it is strongly entrenched and despite the modernisation
trends in India (as a result of urbanisation, improved means of communication and
development of secular education) the caste factor persists. Although caste has undergone
many changes it has become a factor to be reckoned with in politics and no political party
ignores it.