Voting for development? Ruling coalitions and literacy in India

Across the world, governments skew the distribution of state resources for political gain. But does such politicisation of resource allocation affect development trajectories in the long run? We focus on the long-term effects of voting for the ruling coalition on primary education in India. Using a close-election...

Introduction to Special Issue of Social Politics: Legal Regimes, Women’s Work, and Women’s Empowerment

The second-wave feminist movement called attention to the endurance of discriminatory laws that deny women equal rights and opportunities. Since the 1970s, most countries around the world responded to feminist demands and reformed family law, labor law, reproductive rights, national constitutions, and...

Valg i India: Utdanning, urbanisering og valgdeltakelse

India er kjent for å ha en ganske høy valgdeltakelse, men hvem stiller opp for å stemme i India, og hvorfor?

Valg i India: Legitimitet og ansvarlighet i kompetitive valg

Det er sterk konkurranse i Indiske nasjonalvalg. Indiske politikere vinner med mindre marginer enn kandidater i andre land med sammenlignbare valgsystemer, for eksempel Canada og Storbritannia. I et valgsystem som det indiske, med flertallsvalg i enkeltpersonskretser, trenger en kandidat minst 50 prosent...

Study shows Indian politicians are spending less and less time in legislative assemblies

In many democracies, elected politicians spend a substantial amount of time in the legislature to propose, debate, and vote on policies. In developing countries, politicians face an extra duty – they are also expected to spend a large part of their time with constituents listening to their concerns,...

Valg i India: Lokale valg topper statistikken

Historisk sett har valg i India hatt en høy deltakelse på rundt 60 prosent, men i motsetning til de fleste andre demokratiske land stemmer flere indere i lokale valg enn i nasjonale valg. Hvorfor er det slik?

Hvem dominerer Indias nasjonale valg?

Antallet uavhengige kandidater har økt kraftig i India siden uavhengigheten i 1947, men hvor stor sannsynlighet har de for å vinne?

Women and minorities in the Lok Sabha: Intersectionality in the Indian elections

It is well known that women are under-represented in India’s legislative assemblies. The historically marginalised Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), on the other hand, have reserved seats proportional to their share of the population that guarantee them a political presence. What does...

Valg i India: Få bastioner og mange svingninger

I forbindelse med valget i India hører man ofte at enkelte partier har såkalte bastioner – områder hvor de sanker inn spesielt mange stemmer. Hvor mye belegg er det for slike påstander?

Valg i India: en representasjonskrise?

Parlamentsvalget i India for 2019 nærmer seg, og de politiske kandidatene forbereder seg på å møte velgerne sine igjen. Et enkelt og viktig spørsmål følger: hvor mange mennesker representerer egentlig en indisk folkevalgt? Svaret er at i dagens India representerer et medlem av parlamentet (Lok Sabha)...

Why voters don’t turn up in larger numbers in Lok Sabha elections – all politics is local

Historically, national elections in India have had an average voter turnout of about 60 per cent, but there have been massive differences in turnout both across India and across different elections. Voter turnout is important for the legitimacy of democratic elections, and Indian elections are known...

Political parties dominate India’s national elections, not candidates

A common perception regarding Indian politics is that it is the candidate, and not the party, who wins the elections. This makes it important for parties to pick the “right” candidates, and parties in India do spend enormous effort in local consultations and identity arithmetic while choosing who to...

There are very few BJP strongholds or Congress bastions in India. Data shows why

An important ongoing discussion in some political circles in India is whether the Election Commission should limit public access to the so-called Form 20 data, which reports the exact number of votes that each candidate receives in each polling booth in an election. The Form 20 data has been made available...

This data shows why Indian MPs don’t truly represent their people

As the national elections of 2019 draw close, and incumbents prepare to face voters again, a straightforward question follows: how many people does a Member of Parliament really represent? On average, an Indian parliamentarian today represents constituencies with more than 1.5 million or 15 lakh eligible...

3 charts challenge lazy thinking on voter turnout and its link to literacy & urbanisation

India is known for a fairly high election turnout, but who turns out to vote in India, and why? In our last article, we discussed how constituency size, organisational networks, and social pressures may play a role in influencing voter turnout. Two other factors are commonly cited as having an impact...

It’s a myth that 2014 election was exceptional in the vote share of winning candidates

Elections to the Lok Sabha are highly competitive. Indian politicians win with smaller margins than their counterparts in other countries with a similar electoral system, such as Canada and the United Kingdom. In a first-past-the-post electoral system, a candidate needs 50 per cent plus one vote to...

Gender-Discriminatory Laws and Women’s Economic Agency

Recent years have seen widespread advances in women’s legal rights in many countries. In other places, restrictions on women’s autonomy remain entrenched. This study explores cross-country patterns in the association between gender-discriminatory legislation and various indicators of women’s economic...

India: A Contradictory Record

This chapter provides a review of the role of women in Indian politics, with a focus on female legislators. It begins with an account of the entry of women into politics in the early 20th century. Second, it looks at the gradual increase in the number of women MPs and the barriers they have faced. The...

Kinship in Indian Politics: Dynasties, nepotism and imagined families

While kinship is among the basic organizing principles of all human life, its role in and implications for international politics and relations have been subject to surprisingly little exploration in International Relations (IR) scholarship. This volume is the first volume aimed at thinking systematically...

Benefits and Pitfalls of Google Scholar

Google Scholar (GS) is an important tool that faculty, administrators, and external reviewers use to evaluate the scholarly impact of candidates for jobs, tenure, and promotion. This article highlights both the benefits of GS—including the reliability and consistency of its citation counts and its platform...