South Asian Poltics: Politics and Policymaking in India

In this course, we consider the politics and policymaking processes of India. Beginning with a brief review of colonial India and the early post-Independence period, we focus on the character of politics in the current era. To do so, we ask a set of questions about the functioning of the world’s largest democracy, including: what are the implications of social cleavages such as caste, class, language and religion for democratic politics? How successful has India’s state been in promoting socioeconomic development? What are the key issues facing India’s government and citizens today? The course draws on both academic texts and popular non-fiction to examine these issues of Indian democracy and political economy. We also use group activities, including a mock parliamentary session, to understand better the complexities of policy making in modern India.