POLI130G: Politics of Modern Gareth Nellis Fall 2019

E-mail: [email protected] Web: garethnellis.github.io Office Hours: T 10:00–13:00 Class Hours: Tu & Th 15:30–16:50 Office: SSB 350 Class Room: WLH 2113

Description

India is the world’s largest democracy and its second most populous country. This course intro- duces core issues in the study of modern Indian politics. The class is organized around ten topics. We trace how India gained independence; how its political regime consolidated; the relation- ship between the state and the economy; how political parties and electoral campaigns operate; the state’s institutional architecture; the bureaucracy and threats posed by corruption; the role of caste and religion in shaping vote choice; India’s foreign relations and the development of nu- clear weapons; and the drivers of violent insurgency against the central government. The focus is on building knowledge and understanding of the Indian case. But we will also consider what India’s experience can tell us about the plausibility of more general theories of politics, and how they might be refined. Class sessions will be interactive, with plenty of opportunity for group discussion. The reading list is diverse and draws from political science, journalism, history, an- thropology, and economics.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites. The class will be of most immediate interest to students majoring in political science, economics, and international studies. An excellent accompaniment to this class is ECON 164, The Indian Economy, taught by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan.

Logistics

Teaching assistant

Siddhartha Baral [email protected] Office hours: Tuesdays, 10:00–13:00, SSB 446

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Materials

Assignnments and grading will be done through TritonEd. Copies of all readings can be accessed on TridonEd by clicking the right arrows (⇒) in the detailed class schedule, below. The syllabus also contains suggestions for films and documentaries to watch, and podcasts to listen to. Most of these are freely available online.

Requirements

1. Reading and participation (20%). The class addresses ten topics. Each topic is covered by two lectures. There are four or five required readings assigned for each topic. The lectures are designed to give you the background you need to put the readings in context. Ensure you have read and digested all the readings before attending class. Your contribution to class discussions will be assessed. Class attendance will be tracked. You may miss up to two class sessions with no questions asked. After that, missing classes will count heavily against your participation grade. 2. Writing I, II: Reading responses (40% total, 20% each). Twice in the quarter, you will write a detailed response to one or more of the assigned readings for a given topic. The two responses must address two different topics. Here is what a reading response should do and not do: • It should not be a summary of the reading(s). • Rather, it should be a critical reflection on the readings. This could come in several flavors: juxtaposing two readings and adjudicating a point of disagreement between them; highlighting internal contradictions within a reading’s argument; pointing to an absence of empirical support for a particular claim, and suggesting either how it could be tested, or what the available evidence indicates about its veracity; suggesting an al- ternative interpretation of evidence presented in a reading (“While the author argues the evidence supports THAT interpretation, there are reasons to believe that THIS ex- planation is more sensible”); and so forth. • Each response must be strictly between 700 and 900 words. • Do not include a bibliography or any footnotes. 3. Quiz (10%). There will be a short, closed-book, in-class quiz. On it, you will be required to do to the following: • Write in the names of India’s states on a blank map; • Be able to correctly write the name and political party of each state’s current chief min- ister; • For any year between 1947 and the present, be able to write the name and political party of India’s sitting prime minister at that time. 4. Writing III: Final paper (30%). Choose ONE of the questions listed in the detailed course description below. (These questions appear under the headings for each of the ten topics.) Write a 1,500 word essay in response to the question you pick. The essay should have these features: • It must pose a thesis, expressed clearly in one and no more than two sentences toward the very start of the essay, and no later than the second paragraph. It should take the

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form, “This paper argues that. . . ” or very similar. The thesis statement must be underlined. Papers lacking a thesis statement cannot receive a top grade. • It must reference ten or more of the class readings. You may cite these readings using the Harvard citation style—e.g. “The sky is blue (Jha 2018).” • Include a bibliography only for citations that do not appear on the class syllabus. Note, you are not expected to read beyond the syllabus but may do so if you wish. • The paper must be strictly no shorter than 1,400 words and no longer than 1,600 words. The word count does not include the bibliography but does include footnotes. • You may have no more than five short footnotes; fewer is better. • Top grades will be awarded to papers that present a clearly articulated, perhaps novel argument that is well supported in the body of the paper. Use signposts to tell the reader how each part of the paper contributes to your central claim.

Resources

There are ample ways to stay up to date with Indian current affairs. For example: • New York Times India page • The Hindu • Indian Express See especially the regular opinion columns by Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Ashutosh Varshney • Caravan • 3 Things Daily news podcast • The Big Story Podcast from The Quint • The Seen and the Unseen Podcast featuring in-depth weekly discussions

Academic honesty

You are expected to do your own work, and to properly attribute ideas, quotations, and sources. Please consult the university’s website on academic integrity.

Disabilities policy

Students with disabilities should please inform the instructor of any accommodations you may need. We will do everything possible to facilitate your full participation in the class.

Email policy

I will reply to emails within two business days.

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Schedule

Lectures 1/2—Freedom

Thursday, 2019-09-26 & Tuesday, 2019-10-01

Questions

• How did British colonial authorities maintain power in India before 1947? • Why did the idea of Pakistan gain a mass following in late colonial India?

Readings

• Krishna, Gopal (1966). “The Development of the Indian National Congress as a Mass Orga- nization, 1918–1923”. In: The Journal of Asian Studies 25.3, pp. 413–430. ⇒ • Brass, Paul R (1991). Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theory and Comparison. Sage Publications. Chapter 3, “Elite Groups, Symbol Manipulation and Ethnic Identity Among the Muslims of South Asia.”⇒ • Dhulipala, Venkat (2011). “A Nation State Insufficiently Imagined? Debating Pakistan in Late Colonial North India”. In: The Indian Economic & Social History Review 48.3, pp. 377–405. ⇒ • Metcalf, Barbara D and Thomas R Metcalf (2006). A Concise History of Modern India. Cam- bridge University Press. Chapter 7, “The 1940s: Triumph and Tragedy.”⇒

Further resources

Film: • Garam Hawa. M. S. Sathyu, 1973. Documentaries: • “Gandhi: The Making of the Mahatma; The Rise to Fame; The Road to Freedom.” BBC Two. 3 parts. ⇒ • “Does Britain Owe Reparations?” Shashi Tharoor, Speech to the Oxford Union, 2015. ⇒ Podcasts: • “India: A People Partitioned.” BBC World Service. 5 parts. ⇒ • “Jinnah: The Chess Player.” BBC Radio 4. ⇒

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Lectures 3/4—Congress

Thursday, 2019-10-03 & Tuesday, 2019-10-08

Questions

• What were the main characteristics of the “Congress System?” • What led Congress party dominance to break down?

Readings

• Weiner, Myron (1967). Party Building in a New Nation: The Indian National Congress. Univer- sity of Chicago Press. Appendix 1, “Village and Party Factionalism in an Assembly Election, 1962” and Chapter 22, “Why Congress Succeeds.”⇒ • Kochanek, Stanley A (1976). “Mrs. Gandhi’s Pyramid: The New Congress”. In: ’s India: A Political System Reappraised. Ed. by Henry C Hart. Westview Press, pp. 93– 124. ⇒ • Dasgupta, Aditya (2018). “Technological Change and Political Turnover: The Democratizing Effects of the Green Revolution in India”. In: American Political Science Review 112.4, pp. 918– 938. ⇒ • Mitra, Subrata Kumar (1992). “Democracy and Political Change in India”. In: Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 30.1, pp. 9–38. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Shree 420. Raj Kapoor, 1955. Documentaries: • “Two Decades.” N. V. K. Murthy, 1967. ⇒ • “Phantom India.” Louis Malle, 1969. 6 parts. ⇒ Podcasts: • “Chandigarh: The Modernist Utopia.” Curbed, 2019. ⇒ • “Examining Indira Gandhi’s Long Lasting Legacy (with Mark Tully).” The Takeaway, WNYC Radio. ⇒

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Lectures 5/6—Hindutva

Thursday, 2019-10-10 & Tuesday, 2019-10-15

Questions

• What explains Hindu-Muslim violence in India? • To what extent has the BJP been reinvented under the leadership of ?

Readings

• Upadhyaya, Deendayal (2009). “Two Extracts from Integral Humanism”. In: Hindu Nation- alism: A Reader. Ed. by Christophe Jaffrelot. Princeton University Press, pp. 139–157. ⇒ • Andersen, Walter K and Shridhar D Damle (1987). The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism. Westview Press. Chapter 3, “RSS: Ideology, Orga- nization, and Training.”⇒ • Brass, Paul R (1997). Theft of an Idol: Text and Context in the Representation of Collective Violence. Princeton University Press. Chapter 7, “Kala Bachcha: Portrait of a BJP Hero.”⇒ • Jaffrelot, Christophe (1999). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s. Penguin Books. Chapter 11, “The Making of a Hindu Vote?”⇒ • Marvel, Ishan (2016). “In the Name of the Mother: How the State Nurtures the Gau Rakshaks of Haryana”. In: Caravan Magazine. September 1.⇒

Further resources

Film: • . , 2009. Documentaries: • “The Babri Masjid Demolition.” Eyewitness, 1993. ⇒ • “Vivek.” Anand Patwardhan, 2019. ⇒ English translation. ⇒ Podcasts: • “The BJP’s Magic Formula.” The Seen and the Unseen, 2017. ⇒ • “The Briefing Room: Has Narendra Modi Changed India?” BBC Radio 4, 2019. ⇒ *****Wednesday, 2019-10-16, 11.59pm—READING RESPONSE 1 DUE*****

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Lectures 7/8—Kashmir

Thursday, 2019-10-17 & Tuesday, 2019-10-22

Questions

• To what extent have the actions of the Indian state contributed to the insurgency in Kashmir? • Can classic theories of insurgency help explain the dynamics of the Kasmir conflict?

Readings

• Rai, Mridu (2019). “Kashmiris in the Hindu Rashtra”. In: Majoritarian State: How Hindu Na- tionalism is Changing India. Ed. by Angana P Chatterji, Thomas Blom Hansen and Christophe Jaffrelot. Oxford University Press, pp. 259–280. ⇒ • Varshney, Ashutosh (1992). “Three Compromised Nationalisms: Why Kashmir Has Been a Problem”. In: Perspectives on Kashmir: The Roots of Conflict in South Asia, pp. 191–234. ⇒ • Peer, Basharat (2010). Curfewed Night: One Kashmiri Journalist’s Frontline Account of Life, Love, and War in his Homeland. Simon and Schuster. “City of No Joy,” “In the Courtyards of Faith,” “The Black Blanket,” and “Epilogue.”⇒ • Nair, Gautam and Nicholas Sambanis (2019). “Violence Exposure and Ethnic Identification: Evidence from Kashmir”. In: International Organization 73.2, pp. 329–363. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Haider. , 2014. Documentaries: • “Jashn-e-Azadi.” Sanjay Kak, 2007. ⇒ • “Kashmir: The Story.” Times Now. ⇒ Podcasts: • “Kashmir and Article 370 (with Srinath Raghavan).” The Seen and the Unseen, 2019. ⇒ • “Kashmir: The First Indo-Pakistani War.” The History of the Cold War Podcast, 2017. ⇒

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Lectures 9/10—Caste

Thursday, 2019-10-24 & Tuesday, 2019-10-29 *****Thursday, 2019-10-24 QUIZ IN CLASS*****

Questions

• Describe two policies the Indian state has pursued to improve the wellbeing of lower castes. How effective have these policies been and why? • What explains the rise to political power of lower caste groups in the 1980s and 1990s?

Readings

• Dube, Siddharth (1998). In the Land of Poverty: Memoirs of an Indian Family, 1947–97. Zed Books. Chapter 1, “This Naked Hungry Mass;” Chapter 8, “Shrinath;” Chapter 11, “The Poorest Families;” Chapter 14, “Why Political Democracy Has Not Led to Economic Democ- racy.”⇒ • Witsoe, Jeffrey (2013). Democracy Against Development: Lower-Caste Politics and Political Moder- nity in Postcolonial India. University of Chicago Press. Chapter 2, “Lalu Yadav’s Bihar: An Incomplete Revolution.”⇒ • Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India’s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India. Orient Blackswan. Chapter 5, “Caste Transformations in the South and West: Eth- nicisation and Positive Discrimination;” Chapter 6, “Were There Low Caste Movements in North India?”⇒ • Pande, Rohini (2003). “Can Mandated Political Representation Increase Policy Influence for Disadvantaged Minorities? Theory and Evidence from India”. In: American Economic Review 93.4, pp. 1132–1151. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Ankur. , 1974. Documentaries: • “India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart.” Stalin K, 2007. ⇒ • “Why Reservations?” Yogendra Yadav, TEDxAIIMS, 2017. ⇒ Podcasts: • “Is Caste Arithmetic Trumping Nationalism in UP?” The Chessboard, Business Standard, 2019. ⇒ NB, the predictions here turned out to be incorrect • “Caste and Economic Quotas are Different, Here’s Why.” The Big Story, The Quint, 2019. ⇒ Comic: • “Kushinagar.” Joe Sacco, New York Review of Books, 2012. ⇒

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Lectures 11/12—World

Thursday, 2019-10-31 & Tuesday, 2019-11-05

Questions

• “Nuclear weapons make South Asia safer.” Discuss. • Has the ideology of India’s ruling party affected relations between the United States and India over time? If so, how?

Readings

• Clary, Christopher and Vipin Narang (2019). “India’s Counterforce Temptations: Strategic Dilemmas, Doctrine, and Capabilities”. In: International Security 43.3, pp. 7–52. ⇒ • Ganguly, Sumit (2012). “The Indo-Pakistani Conflict”. In: The Routledge Handbook of Indian Politics. Ed. by Atul Kohli and Prerna Singh. Routledge London and New York, pp. 331–338. ⇒ • Acharya, Alka (2016). “China”. In: The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy. Ed. by David M Malone, C Raja Mohan and Srinath Raghavan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 356–369. ⇒ • Tellis, Ashley J (2018). Narendra Modi and U.S.-India Relations. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Veer-Zaara. Yash Chopra, 2004. Documentaries: • “India’s Nuclear Riddle.” Al Jazeera, 2016. ⇒ • “Indian Foreign Policy in a Changing World.” Brookings Institution, 2018. ⇒ Podcasts: • “India’s Time is Now.” Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 2018. ⇒ • “India and Pakistan, to the brink again.” National Security Podcast, 2019. ⇒

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Lectures 13/14—Economy

Thursday, 2019-11-07 & Tuesday, 2019-11-12

Questions

• “India is living though a New Gilded Age and needs its own Progressive Era” (to paraphrase James Crabtree). Discuss. • How was the Indian government able to embark on economic liberalization in 1991 despite political opposition?

Readings

• Jenkins, Rob (1999). Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6, “Political Skills: Introducing Reform by Stealth.”⇒ • Kohli, Atul (2004). State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 7, “India’s Fragmented-Multiclass State and Protected Industrialization.”⇒ • Sinha, Aseema (2019). “India’s Porous State: Blurred Boundaries and the Evolving Business- State Relationship”. In: Business and Politics in India. Ed. by Christophe Jaffrelot, Atul Kohli and Kanta Murali. Modern South Asia, pp. 50–94. ⇒ • Banerjee, Abhijit V and Esther Duflo (2007). “The Economic Lives of the Poor”. In: Journal of Economic Perspectives 21.1, pp. 141–168. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai. Saeed , 1980. Documentaries: • “Storyline: Commanding Heights.” PBS Storyline, 2002. 3 parts; see especially episode 2. ⇒ • “The Indian Miracle?” Channel 4 News, 2019. ⇒ Podcasts: • “Economic Growth, Inequality, and Jobs.” The Anthill: India Tomorrow, 2019. ⇒ • “India’s Farming Crisis.” BBC World Service: In the Balance, 2018. ⇒ *****Wednesday, 2019-11-13, 11.59pm—READING RESPONSE 2 DUE*****

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Lectures 15/16—Elections

Thursday, 2019-11-14 & Tuesday, 2019-11-19

Questions

• Choose two factors thought to affect who citizens vote for in India. Describe the influence of these factors. • Why is voter turnout so high in India?

Readings

• Ahuja, Amit and Pradeep Chhibber (2012). “Why the Poor Vote in India: If I Don’t Vote, I am Dead to the State”. In: Studies in Comparative International Development 47.4, pp. 389–410. ⇒ • Banerjee, Mukulika (2017). Why India Votes. Routledge. Chapter 2, “The Campaign.”⇒ • Bjorkman, Lisa (2014). “You Can’t Buy a Vote: Meanings of Money in a Election”. In: American Ethnologist 41.4, pp. 617–634. ⇒ • Morris-Jones, Wyndraeth H (1963). “India’s Political Idioms”. In: Politics and Society in India. Ed. by CH Philips. Allen and Unwin, pp. 133–154. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • . , 1975. Not cleared for release until 1977. Can you guess why? Documentaries: • “The Great Indian Election.” National Geographic, 2019. ⇒ • “The Magnificent Journey: Times and Tales of Democracy.” Abhijit Banerjee and Gaurav Gupta, 2019. ⇒ Hats off to anyone who can find an online version of the documentary itself Podcasts: • “Grand Tamasha.” Milan Vaishnav, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019. 19 parts. ⇒ • “Every Vote Matters.” Suno India, 2019. ⇒

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Lectures 17/18—State

Thursday, 2019-11-21 & Tuesday, 2019-11-26

Questions

• What problems do citizens routinely encounter in accessing state services in India and how do they deal with these problems? • Detail two policies that could reduce corruption in India.

Readings

• Jeffrey, Craig (2002). “Caste, Class, and Clientelism: A Political Economy of Everyday Cor- ruption in Rural North India”. In: Economic Geography 78.1, pp. 21–41. ⇒ • Kruks-Wisner, Gabrielle (2018). “The Pursuit of Social Welfare: Citizen Claim-Making in Rural India”. In: World Politics 70.1, pp. 122–163. ⇒ • Krishna, Anirudh (2002). Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy. Columbia University Press. Chapter 3, “Structure and Agency: New Political Entrepreneurs and the Rise of Village-Based Collective Action.”⇒ • Gupta, Akhil (2012). Red Tape: Bureaucracy, Structural Violence, and Poverty in India. Duke University Press. Chapter 5, “Let the Train Run on Paper: Bureaucratic Writing as State Practice.”⇒ • Kapur, Devesh, Partha Mukhopadhyay and Arvind Subramanian (2008). “The Case for Di- rect Cash Transfers to the Poor”. In: Economic and Political Weekly, pp. 37–43. ⇒

Further resources

Film: • Ardh Satya. , 1983. Documentaries: • “Police.” Satyamev Jayate, Aamir Khan, 2014. ⇒ • “An Insignificant Man.” Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla, 2017. ⇒ Podcasts: • “Understanding Bureaucracy from the Bureaucrat’s Perspective.” Centre for Policy Re- search, 2016. ⇒ • “Corporate-Government Relations in India..” Pragati Podcast, 2019. ⇒

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Lectures 19/20—Democracy

Tuesday, 2019-12-03 & Thursday, 2019-12-05

Questions

• To what extent is India a full fledged democracy? • Has ethno-religious diversity helped or hindered the emergence and persistence of democ- racy in India?

Readings

• Manor, James (1990). “How and Why Liberal and Representative Politics Emerged in India”. In: Political Studies 38.1, pp. 20–38. ⇒ • Prakash, Gyan (2019). Emergency Chronicles: Indira Gandhi and Democracy’s Turning Point. Princeton University Press. Chapter 5, “Lawful Suspension of Law.”⇒ • Staniland, Paul (2008). “Explaining Civil-Military Relations in Complex Political Environ- ments: India and Pakistan in Comparative Perspective”. In: Security Studies 17.2, pp. 322– 362. ⇒ • Moore, Barrington (1966). Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Beacon Press. Chapter 6, “Democracy in Asia: India and the Price of Peaceful Change.”⇒

Further resources

Film: • Peepli Live. Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui, 2010. Documentaries: • “Is Democracy India’s Achilles Heel?” Intelligence Squared, 2011. ⇒ • “How India Became Democratic.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2018. ⇒ Podcasts: • “The Time of Vasectomy: How American Foundations Fueled a Terrible Atrocity in India.” Future Perfect, Vox. ⇒ • “India’s Role as a Democracy in the Liberal International Order.” Brookings India, 2019. ⇒ *****Friday, 2019-12-06, 11.59pm—FINAL PAPER DUE*****

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