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Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More Information Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Why Regional Parties? Today, regional parties in India win nearly as many votes as national parties. In Why Regional Parties? Professor Adam Ziegfeld questions the conventional wisdom that regional parties in India are electorally successful because they harness popular grievances and benefit from strong regional identities. He draws on a wide range of quantitative and qualitative evidence from over eighteen months of field research to demonstrate that regional parties are, in actuality, successful because they represent expedient options for office-seeking politicians. By focus- ing on clientelism, coalition government, and state-level factional align- ments Ziegfeld explains why politicians in India find membership in a regional party appealing. He therefore accounts for the remarkable success of India’s regional parties and, in doing so, outlines how party systems take root and evolve in democracies where patronage, vote buying, and machine politics are common. adam ziegfeld is the International Council Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. His research explores electoral and party politics, particu- larly India. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Why Regional Parties? Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System ADAM ZIEGFELD George Washington University, Washington, DC © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107118683 © Adam Ziegfeld 2016 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2016 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ziegfeld, Adam, author. Title: Why Regional Parties? : Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System / Adam Ziegfeld. Description: New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015030269 | isbn 9781107118683 (Hardback) Subjects: LCSH: Political parties–India. | Regionalism–Political aspects–India. | Elite (Social sciences)–Political activity–India. Classification: LCC JQ298.A1 Z54 2016 | DDC 324.254–dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015030269 isbn 978-1-107-11868-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information For my parents, for Michele © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Contents List of Figures page ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii Further Information and Terminological Notes xv Indian Party Acronyms xvii 1 Introduction 1 2 Definitions and Description: Regional Political Parties in India 24 3 Theory: Clientelism, Elites, and Regional Parties 50 4 Evidence: Elites and Regional Party Success in India 79 5 Cross-National Variation: Clientelism and Institutions 113 6 India’s Successful Regional Parties: The Costs of Building National Parties 151 7 Longitudinal Variation in India: Coalition Government and the Rise of Regional Parties 170 8 Subnational Variation in India: Factional Sorting and Elite Divisions 204 9 Conclusion 244 References 257 Index 277 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Figures 1.1 Regional Parties around the World page 2 1.2 Regional Party Vote Shares in India over Time 9 1.3 Regional Party Vote across Indian States (2014) 10 2.1 Distribution of Regional Party Vote Shares across 111 Countries 28 2.2 Regional Party Votes Shares in India Using Different Measures 29 2.3 Party System Nationalization Measures in India 30 4.1 Clientelism in India in Comparative Perspective 83 5.1 Variability in Swing across Regions for Selected Democracies 133 5.2 Regression Coefficients for Institutional Variables 144 5.3 Predicted Regional Party Vote Shares 149 6.1 Variability in Constituency-Level Swing for Congress 155 6.2 Variability in Electoral Swing for Major Parties 156 6.3 VFI Scores for Indian National Parties 162 7.1 Regional Party Vote Shares in Indian National Elections 174 7.2 Indicators of Fiscal Decentralization in India 192 7.3 Regional Party Vote Shares in UTs that Became States 193 7.4 OBC Support Base of Major Parties in 2004 202 8.1 State-wise Vote Shares by Four Party Types (1957–2014) 205 8.2 Regional Party Vote by Subnational Unit in India 236 8.3 Regional Loyalty and Regional Party Vote Shares in India (2004) 237 8.4 Comparative State Wealth and Regional Party Vote across Indian States 240 8.5 OBC Population and Regional Party Vote (2004) 242 ix © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Tables 4.1 Indian National Election Study (2009) Questions on Clientelism page 84 4.2 Regional Identity and Voting for a Regional Party 93 4.3 Regional Loyalty and Regional Party Vote Choice 97 4.4 Regional Loyalty and Regional Party Voting by State 99 5.1 Regional Party Vote by Groups of Countries 134 5.2 Regression Coefficients for Identity and Economic Hypotheses 145 5.3 Clientelism and Regional Party Success 146 6.1 Leadership Turnover in Major Indian Parties 164 7.1 Governments of India, 1947–Present 178 7.2 Regional Identity in India 196 7.3 Regional Parties by State Economic Development 198 8.1 Predictions from Elite Sorting Patterns 212 8.2 State-wise Trajectory of Regional Party Success Prior to 1990s 225 8.3 Regional Wealth and Regional Party Vote Share 239 xi © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-11868-3 - Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System Adam Ziegfeld Frontmatter More information Acknowledgments Fifteen years ago, my undergraduate thesis adviser Anne Sa’adah suggested that I read about India. I did so and was, in equal measure, captivated and daunted by the alphabet soup of political parties that dotted the Indian political land- scape. Though I did not realize it at the time, that initial fascination with India’s myriad political parties constituted the earliest stages of this book. Once in graduate school, my interest in India’s political parties—most of them regional— quickly gave rise to an intellectual dissatisfaction with the ways in which political science theorized the formation and evolution of party systems in much of the developing world. The more I read and the more people I talked to in India, the more convinced I was of the need to rethink how we, as scholars, understand political parties in much of the world. This book is a modest attempt at furthering that aim. Like any book born out of a dissertation, this book was many years in the making. This one traversed a great number of academic institutions. It grew out of my doctoral dissertation at MIT, where it benefited greatly from my com- mittee members and advisers: Kanchan Chandra, Orit Kedar, Roger Petersen, and Jonathan Rodden. All had an important impact on the project. In particu- lar, Kanchan Chandra’sinfluence was critical both at the project’s inception— as she was the person who most profoundly shaped my understanding of India and its politics—and in its transformation into a book. All of those who helped in ways small and large with my dissertation deserve a second thanks.
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