The Changing Face of Parties and Party Systems Sunil K. Choudhary The Changing Face of Parties and Party Systems A Study of Israel and India Sunil K. Choudhary Developing Countries Research Centre University of Delhi Delhi, India ISBN 978-981-10-5174-6 ISBN 978-981-10-5175-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5175-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017946713 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Preface The number 14 assumes significance in the literary, academic and personal domains of India in general and by the author in particular. In Hindu mythological scripture – the Ramayana - ‘14 years’ became related to the exile of Lord Rama to follow the directions of his father, Lord Dashratha, with unequivocal obedience. ‘Fourteen’ is the date when the author of the book was born in New Delhi, the capital of India, in January 1968. The number 14 is also linked to the culmination of the author’s struggle. After failing to be selected at thirteen colleges of the University of Delhi, the author was finally selected as a regular faculty at Shyam Lal College Evening, University of Delhi, which became the academic abode in his fourteenth attempt. ‘Fourteen’ is also associated with the joining of the author as a professor of Political Science at the University of Delhi in the year 2014. And, finally, it is the fourteenth year since the return of the author from Tel Aviv University, Israel, after completing his postdoctoral research during 2002–2003 that this work seems to be seeing the light of publication in 2017. The academic trajectory of writing the manuscript on Israel and India began in 2003 after my return from Israel. Writing on a nation with innumerous similarities in terms of culture, history, society, economy and v vi Preface polity vis a vis India unknown to the external world, at least in terms of academic literature, became an important challenge. Election after elec- tion passed in the two democratic nations and my penchant for accom- modating the latest developments with formative events kept on increasing. Meanwhile, I got another postdoctoral engagement at the University of Oxford during 2010–11 that diverted the focus of my research attention and engagement, from Israeli parties to the Indian diaspora in Britain. Throughout the decade since my arrival from Israel, I kept on writing on different issues related to Israel and India. Fortunately, from 2006 to 2016, I attended five meetings of the World Congress of International Political Science Association, held in Fukuoka, Santiago, Madrid, Montreal and Poznan, and presented my papers with comparative perspectives on Israel and India by covering many topics from democra- cies to parties, civil society to nationalism, and finally to subalterns and marginals. The scholarly feedback on my papers with rich inputs kept on strengthening my desire not to stop until I had produced a classic work on the two nations. The year 2014 marked a real watershed in my long academic journey covering Israel and India. My joining the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, as a professor in 2014 and my nomination as Director of the Developing Countries Research Centre (DCRC), Univer- sity of Delhi, in 2015 by Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Professor Dinesh Singh made me strive towards my mission of translating all my collected and collective ideas in the form of a seminal work. The finishing touch was made when the University of Delhi approved my proposal for a postgrad- uate course on Israel for the academic session 2016–17. The course, titled ‘Society, State and Politics: Comparing Israel and India’, received tremen- dous support and intake from students, including foreign nationals. It was during the course of my continuous interactions and consistent engage- ments with my students and scholars that my Vision was transformed into a Mission, with Springer and Palgrave Macmillan becoming the flight carriers. The present work is an honest attempt to highlight the similarities amidst the differences between Israel and India against the backdrop of parliamentary governance, coalitional polity and party systems. It Preface vii underlines the democratic journey of the two parliamentary nations, particularly from the late nineteenth century until contemporary times, delineating the transitions and transformations, continuities and convul- sions, movements and momentums that the two nations have been undergoing since their emergence as independent political entities. Much to the discomfort of those Western scholars who had seen the Israeli party system as either ‘baffling’ or ‘decimating’ and the Indian counterpart as ‘dal dal’ (chaotic in view of a multiplicity of parties), the contemporary party systems in the two parliamentary nations have actually attempted to transform democracies into accountable polities. The holding of the 20th elections for the Knesset and the 16th elections for the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) tells the success stories of the two unique parliamentary systems which have succeeded in with- standing the trends of authoritarianism, dictatorship and undemocratic militant takeovers witnessed in different parts of the world. The present work thus delineates many forms and formulations, con- cepts and conceptualizations, ideas and idealizations that would leave scope for further research and explorations in the discipline of social sciences. The elections in the twenty-first century in both Israel and India have witnessed many new trends that also need to be theorized by social scientists across the globe. The shift from a one-party dominated government to a one-party headed coalition, the formulation of the Mapaivot and Coalitional Multipolarity, Salience of the Silence – the Silent Voters - replacing floating voters, the politics of re-alignment taking over alignment and de-alignment, and the emergence of pan parties as an alternative to the ‘umbrella parties’ are some of the emerging trends seen in both Israel and India. Further, party formations on the basis of the I4 as well as the C5 party-building models in contemporary times could be seen as new theorizations that need to be examined under competitive party systems across the globe. Theorization of these new terms and formulations would further require serious social science understanding in the context of empirical investigations by scholars and social scientists in different parliamentary democratic nations around the world. The completion of my research work has incurred innumerable debts. My doctoral supervisor, Professor M.P. Singh, formerly with the Department of viii Preface Political Science, University of Delhi, provided his magnanimous helping hand during the entire course of the completion of my post-doctoral work at Tel Aviv University, Israel. His generosity, cordiality and benevolence have left an indelible imprint that has received consistent exposure in my research commitments. I owe my sincere thanks to Professor Yogesh Atal, who retired as Principal Director of Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, Paris. Working with him for two of my projects on Corruption and Election improved my understanding of the subject and strengthened my focus on the criticality of social science analysis. It would not be an exaggeration to admit that his consistent supervision, persuasive guidance and generous directions along with critical comments carved out a new academic persona in me. He is responsible for elevating me to a new saga of ‘real academics’. No one could have expressed so much happiness for the publication of this work from an international press than my sister, Dr Kanchan Jain, currently working as a principal with the Directorate of Education, Government of National Capital Territory, Delhi. Like a parent, her perennial support, inspiration and encouragement was a real panacea for me during the critical juncture of my undertaking research at Tel Aviv in 2002 and its rightful culmination in 2017. The work is also a tribute to my Daddyji and Chaiji who would have always seen me flying at the top of the academic world. I would like to express my gratitude to my friend, philosopher and guide Professor Ramesh Bhardwaj, Joint Director, DCRC, University of Delhi. Throughout the long period of crises and convulsions, his unflinching support made me resilient to the externalities and complex- ities of the day. It is due to his blessings and wishes that this work is coming out in the form of a book. I extend my profound thanks from the core of my heart to my loving students, Arun and Aashish, Arvind and Umesh, and my beloved students-cum-daughters, GPS, each letter referring to their names, viz., Garima, Preeti and Srishty, for their caring and sharing spirit.