Of late, political scientists linked to the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan (U-M) and at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, have started collaborating on a project on political participation in India, both electoral and non-electoral.  Ashutosh Varshney is leading the project on behalf of U-M and Yogendra Yadav, India’s leading election analyst, on behalf of CSDS.  The key questions are: (a) who participates in Indian elections and why; (b) who participates in the non-electoral forms of politics, especially NGO activities, and why; and (c) how do Indian democratic trends compare with some other democracies in the world, especially in the US?

Mutually advantageous collaboration is the basic premise of the project, and Trehan funds will allow us to take it forward. CSDS will provide free access to its massive store of data on elections and political participation to Michigan-based and Michigan-sponsored scholars, both faculty and students. Such data, covering elections since 1967 and especially since 1995, is not publicly available. 

In return for access CSDS data, U-M would provide technical expertise on survey data as well as a new comparative and theoretical framing of questions about Indian democracy.  It would do so by mobilizing scholars with U-M affiliations, by funding training of CSDS scholars in survey and election analysis, and by making collaborative writing possible.

The early conclusions that are already beginning to emerge from CSDS election data have begun to transform our understanding of Indian democracy.  Two of the most important findings thus far are: (a) the higher the income, the education and the caste, the greater the odds that the voter will vote for the BJP in much of India; and (b) the lower the income, the education and the caste, the higher the odds that the person will vote in elections. The  first finding has improved our understanding of Hindu nationalism.  And  the second finding has an enormous comparative significance.  It is entirely in contrast to US and European trends, where higher voting is associated with higher income and education. A “plebian twist” has now unambiguously entered the electoral side of Indian democracy.  Its implications require serious thinking.