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

Population in 2005

1,000,000,000

800,000,000

600,000,000

400,000,000

200,000,000

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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 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999

Female

Total

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

19 70 19 71 19 72 19 73 19 74 19 75 19 76 19 77 19 78 19 79 19 80 19 81 19 82 19 83 19 84 19 85 19 86 19 87 19 88 19 89 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99

Economic liberalization
Economic performance
average growth rate of 6% since 1990 reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points purchasing power parity GDP: $3 trillion
A nnual Growth Rate of GDP 1961 - 1999
12 9

61

63

65

67

69

71

73

75

77

79

81

83

85

87

89

91

93

95

97

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

-3

-6 India Pakistan

19

99

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