Democratization of india

Democratization of India
Przeworski defines a democracy as “a regime in which those who govern are selected through contested elections” (15). So after over five decades of periodic elections inwhich all political offices are contested, and in which all adults are qualified to vote, it certainly seems as if democracy has taken root in India (Kohli 3). Indeed, since achieving independence fromGreat Britain in 1947, India has gradually become more democratic. Although the centrist, secular Congress Party ruled at the federal level for nearly all of the first fifty years of independence, theHindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became a major factor in Parliament in the 1990s, leading to a number of subsequent governments. Furthermore, “the pattern has shifted from single-partyto coalition governments, typically involving large numbers of parties and an increasingly important role for parties based in a single state” (“Freedom in the World - India” 1). Hence, the Indiangovernment currently comprises a parliamentary democracy that fulfills all four of Przeworski’s rules for democracy; both the chief executive and the legislature are elected, there are multipleparties, and the incumbents have been duly challenged.
Kohli points out that India’s transition to democracy in the 1940s is “understudied and ought to be further researched” (4). Yet relevant literaturesuggests a few main factors that may have contributed to India’s democratization. One argument is that India’s democracy “is mainly a legacy of British colonialism” (Kohli 4). This claim is somewhatproblematic, as it can be challenged by the failure of democracy in other former British colonies, such as Pakistan. However, India did inherit a variety of political traits from British colonial rulethat may have been significant for its democratic evolution: “a relatively centralized state, including a well-functioning civil service; early introduction of elections; and socialization of the...