Author Description

The Question Of Why Some Countries Have Democratic Regimes And Others Do Not Is A Significant Issue In Comparative Politics. This Book Looks At India And Pakistan, Two Countries With Clearly Contrasting Political Regime Histories, And Presents An Argument On Why India Is A Democracy And Pakistan Is Not. Focusing On The Specificities And The Nuances Of Each State System, The Author Examines In Detail The Balance Of Authority And Power Between Popular Or Elected Politicians And The State Apparatus Through Substantial Historical Analysis. India And Pakistan Are Both Large, Multi-religious And Multi-lingual Countries Sharing A Geographic And Historical Space That In 1947, When They Became Independent From British Rule, Gave Them A Virtually Indistinguishable Level Of Both Extreme Poverty And Inequality. All Of Those Factors Militate Against Democracy, According To Most Theories, And In Pakistan Democracy Did Indeed Fail Very Quickly After Independence. It Has Only Been Restored As A Fa Ade For Military-bureaucratic Rule For Brief Periods Since Then. In Comparison, After Almost Thirty Years Of Democracy, India Had A Brush With Authoritarian Rule, In The 1975-76 Emergency, And Some Analysts Were Perversely Reassured That The India Exception Had Been Erased. But Instead, After A Momentous Election In 1977, Democracy Has Become Stronger Over The Last Thirty Years.--pub. Desc. Why India Is A Democracy And Pakistan Is Not (yet?) A Democracy -- The First Thirty Years Of Independence -- Inheritances Of Colonial Rule -- Constitutional & Political Choices, In The Initial Years -- Institutionalizing Democracy -- Who (really) Governs? -- From 1977 To The Present -- 1977 As A Turning Point? -- Religion As An Explanation -- External Influences -- Clearly Diverging Paths -- Prospects For Path Convergence In The Next Decades. Philip Oldenburg. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.