India

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India
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Tradition vs. Modernity

• Two Indias?
• A technologically advanced (Indian Sillicon
  Valley), middle class society (largest middle
  class on earth 150-250 million people).
  British-like political institutions
• A peasant (67 of the popularion), poor,
  fragmented and traditional society. ? electorate
  is iliterate

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Germany India

• ...Question assumptions on the bonds between
  democracy and education.
• Germany a highly educated society chooses Nazism
• India Despite striking inequality and
  instability, India created a stable parliamentary
  democracy

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(Social) Layers of History

• Great Cities developed in the Indus Valley from
  4000 to 2500 BCE (destruction)
• Dravidian peoples
• 1500 BCE Waves of nomadic Indo-Aryans
• Synthesis Hinduism (incorporates surviving
  elements of Indus culture). Caste System.
  Successive invasions do not alter the system.
  Classical references Vedas (religious hymns) and
  the Gita (poem)
• 1000 CE Muslim incursions led to the unification
  of the country by the Mogul dynasty in 1526 (a
  Turkish descendant of Genghis Khan)

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(Social) Layers of History

• 1700 CE decay of the Mogul Empire
• Political vacuum filled by European trading
  companies ? British domination
• 1763 British Colonialism. Organization of a
  centralized, modern, administration.
• Very small (not more than 100,000 people)
• Deep Transformations establishment of British
  law and reform (elimination of slavery and other
  customs). New education system (spread of the
  English language).

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(Social) Layers of History

• 1700 CE decay of the Mogul Empire
• Political vacuum filled by European trading
  companies ? British domination
• 1763 British Colonialism. British East India
  Company
• 1857 Sepoy Rebellion leads to the abolition of
  the East India Company and the organization of a
  centralized, modern, administration
  (viceroyalty).
• Very small (not more than 100,000 people)
• Deep Transformations establishment of British
  law and reform (elimination of slavery and other
  customs). New education system (spread of the
  English language).

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A Traditional Society (18th century)

• 700,000 self-sufficient and self-governing
  villages with different class and caste divisions
• Governed by the Panchayat (committee of
  elders). Dominant family values and forms of
  organization (village ? family).
• Agriculture (and some handicraft industries such
  as cloth)
• A few towns/cities (Delhi, Lahore) acting as
  centers of pilgrimage and royal authority (felt
  in the villages only through the tax collector)
• Flexible to absorb outside forces/ (but) Famines

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Scott vs. PopkinWho is right?
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British Rule

• Creation of a middle class to support British
  colonialism
• Encouragement of ethnic and religious strife
• Railroads
• Mobility of population and products
• Industrialization (coal,iron, jute, cotton)
• Urbanization (Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi). 58 cities
  with more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1940

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Paradox

• The middle class created during British
  colonialism led India to Independence (Marxs
  dialectics?)
• Intellectuals and the middle class in general saw
  the West as inhuman and materialistic
• Reformers Ram Mohan Roy and other leaders
  promoted a return to traditional Hindu and Muslim
  values but purged of irrational elements such as
  slavery or suttee (internal drive for
  modernization?)

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Towards Independence

• 1885 Indian National Congress (moderate middle
  class reformist movement, demands more
  participation in the government)
• British negative ? Radicalization

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Towards Independence Gandhi

• 1920s Mohandas Gandhi becomes the leader of the
  National Congress and turns it into a mass party
• Satyagraha (truth force) strategy of
  non-cooperation (a Bartleby-like style?)
• Negotiations (Indian support for British war
  efforts in exchange for independence)
• First British declaration (1942)

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Indian Union?

• British emissary Sir Stafford Cripps found
  divisions between
• The Congress
• The Muslim League (separatist)
• Associations of untouchables
• Sikhs (against territorial division)
• Anglo-Indians
• Problems could not be solved just with
  independence

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Divisions and Polarization

• Hindu vs. Muslims
• 1946 Institutional Compromise British proposal
  fails
• Hundreds of thousands are killed
• Solution territorial betwen India and (Muslim)
  Pakistan
• July-August 1947 Independence and transference
  of power to India and Pakistan
• -Millions of Muslims and Hindus left as
  minorities on both sides (12 million people
  fleeing and 1 million killed)

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Institutions (? U.K.)

• Constitution January 26, 1950 (Republic Day)
• Federal system (with the main powers held at the
  center)
• Legislature
• Lok Sabha (House of the People)
• Council of States (Rajya Sabha)
• Executive power
• President vice-president
• Prime Minister
• Council of Ministers
• Judiciary
• Supreme Court (Common law/ Limited judicial
  review of laws)

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Electoral System

• SMD
• Instead of a two-party system, it created
• One-Dominant Party (Congress) (1952-1977)
• Multi-party system (1977-1998)
• (three-dominant parties in the early 1990s)
  Coalitions and negotiations
• Multi-party system with two dominant parties
  (Bharatiya Janata / Congress). Coalitions (13
  party BJ-led coalition governs India)

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The Parliament

• Lok Sabha (House of the People) (five-year term).
  543 members elected by SMD (can pass money bills
  without the support of the Rajya Sabha). 119
  seats reserved for members of Scheduled Castes
  and Tribes
• Speaker
• Standing Committees
• Rajya Sabha (Council of State). 250 members (12
  appointed by the President, and the rest elected
  by state legislatures).

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Executive Power

• President (five-year term). Elected by an
  electoral college (Parliament state
  legislatures). He designates the PM, may dissolve
  Parliament, declares emergency, can rule by
  decree, appoints state governors justices,
  leads the armed forces.
• Vice-President (elected by both houses of
  Parliament in a joint session)

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(Real executive power)Prime Minister and Council
of Ministers

• Prime Minister, leader of the majority party (or
  coalition) in Parliament. Chosen by the
  President
• Designates Ministers (who must be members of the
  Parliament)
• The Council of Ministers is collectivelly
  responsible to the Parliament
• Specialized Committees
• PM inner cabinet
• Secretariat

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The Judiciary

• Supreme Court
• 1 Chief Justice
• 25 Associates
• Appointed by the President in consensus with
  Federal and state courts
• -The Supreme Court may declare parliamentary acts
  unconstitutional (? U.S.)
• -Guardian of civil liberties

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The Bureaucratic Apparatus

• Indian Administrative Services (IAS). 4,000
  members recruited from the Indian intellectual
  professional elite.
• Total 13,000,000 civil servants (middle and
  lower ranks are not as nearly well prepared as
  the top)
• Indian policies of affirmative action
  guaranteeing jobs to members of the lower castes
  or religious or ethnic minorities

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Civil Rights vs. National Security

• Indias Constitution is one of the largest in the
  world.
• 395 articles and 8 schedules.
• Enumerates civil liberties and fosters equality
• However, freedoms can be suspended under the
  state of emergency declared by the President
  (reduced in recent years to situations of
  external aggression or armed rebellion)

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Major Parties

• Congress Party
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Janata (or Peoples Party) (1977).
• Communist Party (Social-Dem) (Soviet Union)
• Communist (Marxist) Party (China)
• Regional caste parties

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Major Parties

• Congress Party (1885). Led the independence
  movement. Symbol of nationalism. Under Nehrus
  leadership adopted democratic socialism (5
  year-plans) and non-alignment. Fostered social
  reform and opposed the caste system (center
  left).
• Divisions after Nehrus death in 1964 Rivalry
  between the Syndicate (older leaders) and
  Indira Ghandi divided the party into The Congress
  (O) Congress (R). The latter, Ghandis section,
  had to ally other groups (shift to the left).
• Defeated in 1977 a new split followed Indira
  Ghandi created Congress (I) and won in 1980
  (personalistic shift, with Mrs. Ghandi and sons
  making most decisions). Rajiv Ghandi suceeded his
  mother

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• Janata (or Peoples) Party (1977). Diversity of
  (long-lasting) influences Socialist Party, Jana
  Sangh (a militant Hindu movement opposed to
  Nehru) and the Swatranta (conservative,
  pro-business, and pro-West). Opposition to
  emergency rule (and to Indira Ghandi). Fragmented
  after reaching office (1980).
• Janata Dal (Peoples Party) (1988). Created by
  the convergence of Jan Morkha (V.P. Singh), Lok
  Dal, and Congress (S). Allied with regional
  parties, it gave rise to the
• National Front (1989) made V.P. Singh win the
  elections
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (1979). Origins in
  the section of Janata inspired in Jana Sangh.
  Pro-Hindu (anti-Muslim) (meteoric rise in 1991)

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• Communist Party of India. Deep roots in Indian
  society. Allied with Congress during the struggle
  for independence and also during Indira Gandhis
  tenure. Historically appealed to about 10 the
  electorate until the 1980s, and remaining in
  6-7 in the late 1990s.
• Communist Party of India (Marxist) (1962) closer
  to Chinese Communism. Allied Janata. Maoist
  principles were abandoned in the late 1970s.
  Ruling party in West Bengal since 1977, adopted
  the cause of economic liberalization in 1994.

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Regional caste parties

• Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) (Tamil)
• Telegu Desam. Created in 1982, supports a
  stronger role for states
• Akali Dal (Sikh) Major force in the Punjab
• Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Created in 1984 to
  defend the interests of Dalits, lower castes, and
  Muslims.

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Interest Groups

• (Weak) Unions (12,000,000 members) linked to
  political parties
• Bharatiya Mazdoor Sanga (BMS), the largest union,
  is related to the BJT
• Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is
  linked to the Congress Party
• Smaller unions linked to both Communist Parties
• Business groups (local associations and loose
  federation)
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
  Industry

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PRIME MINISTERS

• JAWAHAR LAL NEHRU (Tenure1947-1964) (Congress)
• LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (1964-1966) (Congress)
• INDIRA GANDHI (1966-1977) (Congress)
• MORARJI DESAI (1977-1979)(Janata)
• CHARAN SINGH (1979-1980) (Janata)
• INDIRA GANDHI (1980-1984) (Congress)
• RAJIV GANDHI (1984-1989) (Congress)
• VISWANATH PRATAP SINGH (1989-1990) (Janata Dal)
• CHANDRA SHEKHAR (1990-1991) (Samajwadi Janata)
• P.V.NARASIMHA RAO (1991-1996) (Congress)
• A.B.VAJPAYEE (16. 5.1996 - 1.6.1996) (BJP)
• H.D.DEVE GOWDA (1.6.1996 - 21.4.1997) (Janata
  Dal)
• I . K.GUJARAL (21.4.1997 - 18.3.1998) (Janata
  Dal)
• A.B.VAJPAYEE ( 19.3.1998 - 13-10-1999) (BJP)
• A.B.VAJPAYEE (13-10-1999- 22-5 2004)  (BJP)
• Dr.MANMOHAN SINGH (May 22, 2004 - till date)

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Ethnic strife

• Hindus (violence against Muslims)
• Muslims (Conflicts in Kashmir)
• Sikhs (Hindu Muslim elements, created in the
  15th century. Harassed by Moguls centuries ago,
  traditionally oppose the Muslims and became
  militarized) (Punjab)
• Tamils (south of India Sri Lanka)
• Split between India and Pakistan (1947)
• Bangladesh (1971)
• Punjab, Kashmir, Jammu

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States

• Each state reproduces the national structure of
  government
• Governors (chosen by the President)
• State legislatures
• Chief ministers (Council of Ministers accountable
  before the legislature)

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Modernizing India

• From Central Planning to Liberalization
• Escaping collapse and entering the global realm
• Average growth during the 1990s 6