Politics of India. India Republic of India A federal republic with a parliamentary system of...
-
Upload
gillian-edwards -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
1
Transcript of Politics of India. India Republic of India A federal republic with a parliamentary system of...
Republic of India
• A federal republic with a parliamentary system of government
• capital: New Delhi
0
200,000,000
400,000,000
600,000,000
800,000,000
1,000,000,000
1,200,000,000
1,400,000,000
China
Indi
a
Europ
ean
Union
United
Sta
tes
Indo
nesia
Brazil
Pakist
an
Bangl
ades
h
Russia
Nigeria
Japa
n
Mex
ico
Population in 2005
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 world’s 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)
Republic of India
• Prime Minister Nehru (1947-1964)
• His daughter (Indira Gandhi) as Prime Minister (1966-1977, 1980-1984)
Nehru’s legacies
• His grandson– Rajiv Gandhi– Prime Minister (1984-1989)
• His granddaughter-in-law– Sonja Gandhi– Congress party president
(1999 - )
World’s 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
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1952 1957 1962 1967 1971 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999
Male 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)
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
Economic development
• Under Prime Minister Nehru’s 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
-500000000
0
500000000
1000000000
1500000000
2000000000
2500000000
3000000000
3500000000
4000000000
Bangladesh India Pakistan
Economic liberalization
• Economic performance– average growth rate of 6% since 1990– reducing poverty by about 10 percentage
points– purchasing power parity GDP: $3 trillion
Annual Growth Rate of GDP 1961 - 1999
-6
-3
0
3
6
9
12
India Pakistan