Discuss the role of caste in Indian politics in 250 words - Brainly.in
Answers
1. Introduction
The best evidence that political competition is good for economic outcomes comes from
looking at sub-national jurisdictions within large federal states. While political competition
has steadily intensified over the past 20 years, sound economic policy – at least as measured
by a staunch commitment to growth-enhancing and poverty-reducing economic reform – has
proceeded in fits and starts, at best, and at present appears to be all but moribund.
Caste in Indian society refers to a social group where membership decided by birth.
Members of such local group are endogamous, i.e. they tend to enter into marital relationships
among themselves. It was institutionalized into government organizations by British
colonizers. The removal of the boundaries between “civil society” and “political society”
meant that caste now played a huge role in the political arena and also influenced other
government-run institutions such as police and the judicial system. Though caste seemed to
dictate one’s access to such institutions, the location of that caste also played a pivotal role. If
a lower caste were concentrated enough in one area, it could then translate that pocket of
concentration of its caste members into political power and then challenge the hegemony of
locally dominant upper caste.
2. Review of Literatures
Iyer and Mani, 2012: States operate their own civil services, and in practice state
politicians exert a significant degree of control over federally-appointed bureaucrats assigned
to their state.
Chhibber et al., 2004: Surveys indicate that among all levels of government, the majority
of Indian citizens hold state governments responsible for provision of public goods and public
safety.
Jensenius, 2013: State legislators (Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs) in
India have little formal power over local government inputs. Legislatures are in session for on
average only 40 days each year, and most political decisions are taken by the executive.
Panagariya, 2008: while the 1990s were a period of significant liberalization, the
regulatory burden on firms remained high by international standards throughout the study
period.
Brollo and Nannicini (2012): find that municipalities with state-aligned incumbents in
Brazil receive greater transfers in election years than municipalities with non-aligned
incumbents.
Vaishnav (2012): argues that in political jurisdictions reserved for particular castes, caste
divisions are less salien