Democratic Dynasties : State, Party, and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics

Dynastic Politics, Usually Presumed To Be The Antithesis Of Democracy, Is A Routine Aspect Of Politics In Many Modern Democracies. This Book Introduces A New Theoretical Perspective On Dynasticism In Democracies, Using Original Data On Twenty-first-century Indian Parliaments. It Argues That The Roots Of Dynastic Politics Lie At Least In Part In Modern Democratic Institutions - States And Parties - Which Give Political Families A Leg-up In The Electoral Process. It Also Proposes A Rethinking Of The View That Dynastic Politics Is A Violation Of Democracy, Showing That It Can Also Reinforce Some Aspects Of Democracy While Violating Others. Finally, This Book Suggests That Both Reinforcement And Violation Are The Products, Not Of Some Property Intrinsic To Political Dynasties, But Of The Institutional Environment From Which Those Dynasties Emerge.-- Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Democratic Dynasties: State, Party, And Family In Contemporary Indian Politics / Kanchan Chandra -- 2. The Old Regime Confronts Democracy / Susanne H. Rudolph -- 3. A Sign Of Backwardness? Where Dynastic Leaders Are Elected In India / Francesca R. Jensenius -- 4. Dynasticism Across Indian Political Parties / Adam Ziegfeld -- 5. Women, Dynasties, And Democracy In India / Amrita Basu -- 6. Disadvantaged Groups, Reservation, And Dynastic Politics / Simon Chauchard -- 7. Why Forward Castes Have A Dynastic Advantage: Intra-party Politics And Co-ethnic Favoritism / Kanchan Chandra -- 8. Dynasty And Paths To Power / Anjali Thomas Bohlken. Edited By Kanchan Chandra. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Epigraph 7 Tabel of contents 9 List of figures 11 List of tables 13 List of contributors 16 List of acronyms 19 Acknowledgments 22 Prologue 25 References 33 1 Democratic dynasties: state, party, and family in contemporary Indian politics 36 1 Dynasty and dynastic politics 37 2 Overview of dynastic MPs in Indian parliaments (2004-14) 39 3 Characteristics of India’s dynastic class 48 4 How dynastic MPs appeal to the electorate 53 5 The role of the state: giving family members an incentive to enter politics 56 6 The role of party organizations: giving family members tickets 61 7 The role of voters: supporting dynastic nominees 68 8 Implications of dynasties for democratic politics 71 References 76 2 The ‘‘old regime’’ confronts democracy 80 References 105 Newspapers 106 3 A sign of backwardness? Where dynastic leaders are elected in India 107 1 Data 109 2 Categories used in this chapter 111 3 Where are dynastic politicians elected from? 113 4 The local rootedness of dynastic MPs 118 5 A rural-urban divide? 119 6 Poverty 121 7 Education 122 8 What is different about the royals? 125 9 Conclusions 126 References 127 4 Dynasticism across Indian political parties 129 1 Party age 132 2 Internal autocracy and organization 137 3 Dynastic leadership succession 143 4 Putting the hypotheses together 146 5 Alternative explanations 149 Size and geographic breadth 149 Success 151 Location 153 Conclusion 157 References 158 5 Women, dynasties, and democracy in India 160 1 Low representation, high dynasticism 167 2 The pervasive use of dynastic metaphors 171 3 Explaining low representation and high dynasticism 173 4 Differences between political parties 181 5 Implications of dynastic politics for women’s exercise of power and for Indian democracy 188 6 Conclusion 190 References 193 6 Disadvantaged groups, reservation, and dynastic politics 197 1 Introduction 197 2 Dynasticism among SC/ST MPs: evidence and explanation 201 SC dynasties 206 ST dynasties 209 What causes SC/ST dynasties? 210 3 A comparatively lower proportion of dynastic politicians 212 Inequalities in dynasticism: the evidence 213 A central explanation: the role of party advancement 218 Explaining the lack of party advancement 222 Reservation as an aggravating factor? 223 4 Implications for democracy In India 226 References 229 Books and Book Chapters 229 Articles 230 7 Why ‘‘Forward Castes’’ have a dynastic advantage: intra-party politics and co-ethnic favoritism 231 1 Most parties in parliament are dominated by a single ethnic category 234 2 ‘‘Forward Caste’’-dominated parties are larger than subaltern-dominated parties 236 3 ‘‘Forward Caste’’ dominated parties favor co-ethnic dynasties 242 4 Subaltern-dominated parties favor ethnic outsider dynasties 243 5 Why the ticket-allocation process favors ‘‘Forward Caste’’ dynasties 248 6 Illustration: the politics of ticket distribution in the Congress party, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party 250 The Congress party 250 The Samajwadi Party 254 The Bahujan Samaj Party 256 7 Conclusion 258 References 259 8 Dynasty and ‘‘paths to power’’ 262 1 Dynasty and political experience as paths to power 266 Dynasty and level of government 269 Dynasty and age 270 Dynasty and education 273 2 Subaltern groups 275 3 Nature of family ties and political experience 279 4 Parties and paths to power 283 5 Why parties prefer dynasts: a discussion 285 6 Conclusion 286 References 288 Appendix: Dataset on dynasticism among Indian MPs 2004-14 290 1 Definition of dynastic ties 290 2 Coding procedure 291 3 Coding for additional attributes 292 Index 294 Dynastic politics, usually presumed to be the antithesis of democracy, is a routine aspect of politics in many modern democracies. This book introduces a new theoretical perspective on dynasticism in democracies, using original data on twenty-first-century Indian parliaments. It argues that the roots of dynastic politics lie at least in part in modern democratic institutions - states and parties - which give political families a leg-up in the electoral process. It also proposes a rethinking of the view that dynastic politics is a violation of democracy, showing that it can also reinforce some aspects of democracy while violating others. Finally, this book suggests that both reinforcement and violation are the products, not of some property intrinsic to political dynasties, but of the institutional environment from which those dynasties emerge.-- Provided by Publisher Dynastic politics, usually presumed to be the antithesis of democracy, is a routine aspect of politics in many modern democracies. This book introduces a new theoretical perspective on dynasticism in democracies, using original data on twenty-first-century Indian parliaments. It argues that the roots of dynastic politics lie at least in part in modern democratic institutions - states and parties - which give political families a leg-up in the electoral process. It also proposes a rethinking of the view that dynastic politics is a violation of democracy, showing that it can also reinforce some aspects of democracy while violating others. Finally, this book suggests that both reinforcement and violation are the products, not of some property intrinsic to political dynasties, but of the institutional environment from which those dynasties emerge (site de l'éditeur) This is the first book-length study of dynasticism in modern democracies. Using original data on twenty-first-century Indian parliaments, it offers a new perspective on where dynasties come from, and why they matter for scholars and students of comparative politics, anthropology and economics, and all those interested in modern democracy.