Regionalization and Institutionalization: Dimensions of Multi Level Party System Change in India
Regionalization and Institutionalization: Dimensions of Multi-level Party System Change in India Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg vorgelegt von Malte Pehl, M.A. Geboren in Stade Erstgutachter: Prof. Subrata K. Mitra, Ph.D. (Rochester, U.S.A.) Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Aurel Croissant Heidelberg, 2010 © Malte Pehl DEDICATIO This work is dedicated to my parents, Klaus-Dieter and Elisabeth Pehl without whose encouragement, support and love it would have never been started. And it is dedicated to my wife Aruni whose belief, devotion and love saw it through to its completion. 2 ACKOWLEDGEMETS First of all, I would like to thank to my advisor, Professor Subrata Mitra whose scholarship first sparked my interest in pursuing a doctorate and in Indian politics. His support, example and his intellectual guidance have since then helped me to better understand politics and to hopefully become a better scholar in the process. Each of these qualities is only surpassed by his friendship and loyalty as a mentor for which I am equally grateful. I would also like to thank my second reader, Professor Aurel Croissant whose teaching and work on comparative and Asian politics I benefitted from tremendously since I first arrived in Heidelberg and whose writings have since then continuously motivated me to become a better writer myself. A debt of gratitude is also owed to Professors Russell Dalton and Bernard Grofman who were kind enough to offer me the hospitality of the Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of California, Irvine and a chance to engage in inspiring conversations on elections, parties and party systems and to teach comparative politics during two stays there in the course of my doctoral studies.