scorecardresearch
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
TopicIndian Democracy

Topic: Indian Democracy

‘Dismantling’ democracy or ‘exaggerated’ criticism: 5 India scholars evaluate Modi govt in US journal

For its July 2023 edition, the 'Journal of Democracy' invited leading political science scholars to look at different aspects of Indian democracy under Modi govt. 

Indian democracy has always been intertwined with authoritarianism — Modi govt is the norm

Ironically, it was during the coalition era that there was a cementing and overt manifestation of authoritarianism in India’s political structure

Nehru was the patron, not architect of economic ideas. He had to take on complex negotiations

Popular discourse on Nehru’s premiership varies from hagiographic to critical, and has been reduced to slogans. India’s post-independent history is far more nuanced.

Freedom ‘losing ground’ — India ranked ‘partly free’ for 3rd year by US non-profit Freedom House

US-based non-profit’s Freedom of the World 2023 report gave India a score of 66, same as last year. Report warns that once a country becomes 'partly free', it’s difficult to recover.

There’s a Gujarat-shaped flaw in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra

Ministries, agencies, police, governors, election commission, judiciary, media— all stand compromised. The only alternative left is to walk with the people and talk to them.

What gives Indian democracy its long life? The choices elites make

Brown University professor writes that Modi's India is still an electoral democracy. But the longer Hindu nationalists remain in power, the weaker it'll become as a liberal democracy.

Personal liberty in India is ending. If anyone in power wants to fix you, they can, they will

When politicians have no respect for personal liberty and order arrests indiscriminately, it is silly to expect policemen and bureaucrats to not follow their example.

Is ‘freebie’ a disease? What SC hears is out of sync with poor India’s logic of democracy

I agree that free electricity is a bad policy. But why do we get worked up only about policies that offer gifts to ordinary people? Why don't we worry about tax cuts and loan waivers to the super rich?

Rishi Sunak to Priti Patel, UK PM race shows it’s a mature democracy. India’s not even close

UK's PM race shows us that given a level playing field, all South Asians and especially Indians can excel in politics. But it's far from reality.

The great paradox of Indian democracy: citizen uprisings but no opposition

India is a site of both institutional decay and civic reclamation. What is missing is an outfit that can sublimate the dispersed fury into disciplined political agitation.

On Camera

Trump’s 4,500 troops can topple Nicolás Maduro—not fix Venezuela

The US troops could dislodge the government in Caracas, but it won’t be enough to police a country ringed by drug cartels and insurgents.

A Rs 33,000 cr ‘banking fraud’: ED’s case against Arvind Dham, Amtek’s web of ‘500 shell companies’

ED has accused Amtek promoter Arvind Dham of controlling web of nearly 500 shell companies operating as a layered structure, with up to 15 levels of indirect ownership, to divert funds.

‘Real-time, all-climate’ explosives detector could enhance airport & border security—no dogs, no swabs

Bengaluru-based CeNS designs accurate, portable, and cheap sensor using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. It could significantly reduce risks at vulnerable choke points. 

For Indian Mercedes, Asim Munir’s dumper truck in mirror is closer than it appears

From Munir’s point of view, a few bumps here and there is par for the course. He isn’t going to drive his dumper truck to its doom. He wants to use it as a weapon.