From Identity to Interests? Quantitative and Qualitative Explanations of Electoral Change in Rural and Urban India
Lead Research Organisation:
King's College London
Department Name: India Institute
Abstract
The network intends to compare politics in Indian cities and villages by studying state and local elections, quantitatively as well as qualitatively. It hypothesizes that the voters are moving from identity-related to issue-based motivations - in cities if not in villages - and that the changing profile of the elected representatives - including the MLAs - reflect an ongoing social democratization process in spite of the development of local dynasties and the resilience of patronage. The network will bring into conversation researchers in different social science disciplines,employing different methodologies to demonstrate the complementarity of survey-based and ethnographic approaches to studying elections.
Planned Impact
Not Applicable
Organisations
- King's College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) (Collaboration)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) (Collaboration)
- American University (Collaboration)
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, India (Collaboration)
- University of London (Collaboration)
- Royal Holloway, University of London (Collaboration)
- Ashoka University (Collaboration)
- Sciences Po (Collaboration)
- George Washington University (Collaboration)
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
Publications
Bagchi S
(2015)
A Tale of Two Campaigns
Manor J
(2015)
An Odisha landslide buries both national parties: assessing the state and parliamentary elections of 2014
in Contemporary South Asia
Ziegfeld A
(2015)
Candidate Characteristics in Indian Elections
in Asian Survey
Heath O
(2015)
Do Muslim voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and voting behaviour in India
in Electoral Studies
Heath O
(2016)
Does multiparty competition increase ethnic security fears? Evidence from North India
in Party Politics
Priyam M
(2015)
Electing the Ruling Party and the Opposition: Voter Deliberations from Sangam Vihar, Delhi, Lok Sabha Elections 2014
in Studies in Indian Politics
Heath O
(2018)
Electoral Volatility and Turnout: Party Entry and Exit in Indian Elections
in The Journal of Politics
Tillin L
(2015)
Indian elections 2014: explaining the landslide
in Contemporary South Asia
Oliver Heath
(2018)
Institutional Performance and Vote Buying in India
in STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Heath O
(2017)
Institutional Performance and Vote Buying in India
in Studies in Comparative International Development
| Description | Members of the team have been engaged in research on multiple themes related to the changing nature of electoral politics in contemporary India. Key overarching questions for our network included whether Indian voters are shifting from identity and patronage-based to issue-based motivations for voting; the impact of urbanisation on electoral patterns; and what explains the behaviour of voters at different levels of election (village, state and national). Original research by members of the UK-based team of this India-Europe research network has focused on two major themes under these overarching questions: 1) ISSUES, PATRONAGE AND IDENTITIES IN ELECTIONS Oliver Heath and Louise Tillin conducted original survey research in 2013-14 to assess government performance versus patronage as explanations for voter behaviour. A survey conducted across two central Indian states found that where institutional performance is stronger and service delivery more reliable, voters are less responsive to small clientelistic inducements to vote (such as small sums of money or gifts in kind), but as the size of clientelistic inducement increases the effects of institutional performance on voter behaviour declines. This research was published in Studies in Comparative International Development in 2018. Further research by Heath in collaboration with other network members (Sanjay Kumar and Gilles Verniers) conducted in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has looked at aspects of identity, including the effects of co-religiosity on voter behaviour. They found that Muslims are more likely to vote for Muslim candidates, but only when those candidates have a realistic chance of winning - there is thus a strong strategic element to their vote calculus. Moreover, they show that Hindus do not discriminate against Muslim candidates, and that parties do not face an electoral penalty for fielding a Muslim candidate. Further survey research was conducted during state elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam in June 2016, which looked among other things at the impact of welfare provision on voting patterns. Follow-up funding from several Indian funders since the end of the grant has enabled further data collection from subsequent elections. Louise Tillin published an article in a special issue of Studies in Indian Politics in 2019 with collaborators Rajeshwari Deshpande and KK Kailash which analyses survey data on the impact of welfare policies on the 2019 Indian general elections. The national level survey data was not funded by this grant but the analysis was informed by the larger body of data on elections to the state level. The full body of data is still being analysed and will result in subsequent publications. 2) WHY DO VOTERS VOTE? Ethnographic research coordinated by Mukulika Banerjee and her team members (including Manisha Priyam and Sarthik Bagchi) in seven field sites in local, state and national elections has focused on the question of why amidst (and notwithstanding) severe disadvantage and deprivation, voters turn out in large numbers in Indian elections. The field work and research done for this project has led to considerable advancement of thinking on the issues that voters consider significant while making their electoral choices. The ethnographies unravel the embedded contexts within which voter deliberations are done, as also the meanings they attach to this activity. Both the context and the meaning are missed out in large-scale surveys of voter-opinions and political trends. Besides, new efforts have been made to fine-tune the research methods to cover urban areas, which involve a significant difference of context, and are under-researched as yet. In addition to ethnographic studies, other members of the UK-based team have used quantitative methodologies to understand variation in election turnout. Oliver Heath and Adam Ziegfeld have used quantitative methods to understand factors impinging on levels of turnout. Their research has looked at the impact of new parties on levels of turnout. Network activities overall have included methodology workshops and future planned publications to investigate the contribution of mixed method research to understanding the question of turnout and why voters vote. In addition to these two major themes, other members of the UK-based team have studied electoral patterns in individual states; and furthered capacity building aims of the original grant proposal including supporting research activities at partner NGO Janaagraha, and by involving PhD students from partner institutions in conferences and publications of the network. IN ADDITION: There are many activities undertaken as part of this network grants that relate to networking activities which were central to this grant (but which are difficult to report in the researchfish format). All members of the UK team have attended the workshops and conferences organised by our partners in India and France, as well as organising workshops and conferences in the UK. These activities are mentioned in passim under the various headings in researchfish (for eg. where they have enabled new collaborations, or involved presentation of research findings that have subsequently been published). But it should be noted that these meetings also constitute a stand-alone element of the overall work under the research grant. |
| Exploitation Route | Findings on public service delivery and voter behaviour will be of interest to government and third sector organisations in India interested in questions of accountability and improving policy outcomes for the poor. Survey data analysed in the publications has been made available via the UK data service where practicable. Ethnographic and quantitative analysis of electoral participation and turnout levels will be of value to partners such as the Election Commission of India, who have been key interlocutors for this project (the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, for instance, attended two workshops of the network in London). Furthermore, the research on election dynamics conducted by the multiple members of the network is of relevance to a wide range of organisations including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, international media, emerging market risk analysts and business communities - we are engaged with such bodies in multiple ways, and as our research reaches fruition seek to further our dissemination activities to reach broader audiences as well as academic peers. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | The research conducted under this award has informed a range of public engagement activities including discussion in the Indian and international media about state and general election outcomes in India by members of the network. The network included a civil society partner, Janaagraha, who conduct work around improving voter registration and the maintenance of voter lists in Indian cities. They presented the methodology for their work, and received feedback on it during network conferences (see, for eg. http://janaagraha.org/reports/Vol-1-Ed-6/eecuri-workshop.html). In addition, a member of Janaagraha's research team conducted a visiting fellowship at King's College London, helping to build the organisation's capacity for research and to expose them further to debates on urban governance issues in London. The value added from research conducted on electoral processes has also informed the training workshops that members of the network based at King's run for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on South Asia. As of March 2021, PI Louise Tillin has been working with the Lancet Citizen's Commission on Reimagining India's Health System to support the team focused on the political economy of health to analyse the political drivers of health policy and consider interventions that may help to raise political support for reforms that would improve access to healthcare in India. The Lancet Citizen's Commission team are specifically interested in the implications of the findings from research funded by this grant on welfare, service delivery and voting behaviour (published in Heath and Tillin 2018; Deshpande, Tillin and Kailash 2020). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Participation in South Asia Advisory Board, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Tillin) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Title | Heath, Oliver and Tillin, Louise. Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh cross border survey. [Data Collection] |
| Description | Survey of 500 voters in 40 villages along the border of the central Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh conducted by Heath and Tillin. Survey assessed performance of local government services, and voter behaviour. Survey included split ballot design which alternated the partisan identity of party workers used within vignettes designed to assess the extent to which various kinds of inducements (from food to government jobs) influenced the likelihood that voters will vote for a given party. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A unique dataset on government performance and voting behaviour. Data analysis ongoing, for future publication. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/ |
| Title | Louise Tillin. Welfare and the 2016 state elections |
| Description | Inclusion of questions on access to, and views towards, welfare schemes in surveys conducted during state elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam in 2016. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Data analysis ongoing - for future publication. |
| Title | Oliver Heath: Tamil Nadu 2016 Assembly Election Postpoll Survey |
| Description | This survey was conducted in Tamil Nadu during the 2016 Assembly elections. The survey was conducted after voting but before the results were announced. The survey was carried out by Cicero. Respondents were asked to evaluate the characteristics of different candidates contesting the election. The database is publicly available via the UK Data Archive. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data analysis is ongoing so it is premature to cite impact. |
| URL | https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Balu Sunilraj and Oliver Heath |
| Organisation | Jawaharlal Nehru University, India |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This relates to writing collaboration between Balu Sunilraj (PhD student at JNU) who came to Royal Holloway under the partnership as part of capacity building exercises, and Dr Oliver Heath (co-I at Royal Holloway) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Oliver Heath hosted the PhD student in his department at Royal Holloway and supported him with quantitative methods training (as reported elsewhere on researchfish) |
| Impact | Sunilraj, B, and Heath, O. 'The historical legacy of party system stability in Kerala' submitted to Studies in Indian Politics (Revise and Resubmit). |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Balu Sunilraj and Oliver Heath |
| Organisation | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This relates to writing collaboration between Balu Sunilraj (PhD student at JNU) who came to Royal Holloway under the partnership as part of capacity building exercises, and Dr Oliver Heath (co-I at Royal Holloway) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Oliver Heath hosted the PhD student in his department at Royal Holloway and supported him with quantitative methods training (as reported elsewhere on researchfish) |
| Impact | Sunilraj, B, and Heath, O. 'The historical legacy of party system stability in Kerala' submitted to Studies in Indian Politics (Revise and Resubmit). |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and voting behaviour in India |
| Organisation | Ashoka University |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration between network members Oliver Heath, Sanjay Kumar (CSDS) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University). Does candidate religion influence vote choice? And if so, under what conditions does religion matter? Previous research has found that minority candidates can receive either an electoral advantage from members of their in-group and/or an electoral penalty from members of their out-group. However, the social mechanisms that underpin these candidate effects are not well understood. Some variant of social identity theory or empowerment theory is usually proffered to explain the ethnic advantage; whereas some variant of racial/religious discrimination is usually employed to explain the ethnic penalty. Both mechanisms imply an expressive calculus (identity / prejudice) and more instrumental mechanisms are rarely explored. Moreover, this research has been largely limited to studies of minorities in the advanced industrial democracies of Western Europe and North America. In this contribution we provide the first systematic analysis of the impact of candidate religion on voting behavior in an ethnically divided democracy: Uttar Pradesh, North India. The results from a series of conditional logit models shows that Muslims are indeed more likely to vote for Muslim candidates, but only when those candidates have a realistic chance of winning - there is thus a strong strategic element to their vote calculus. Moreover, we show that Hindus do not discriminate against Muslim candidates, and that parties do not face an electoral penalty for fielding a Muslim candidate. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Heath, O., Verniers, G., and Kumar, S. (2015) 'Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and political support in India' Electoral Studies |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and voting behaviour in India |
| Organisation | Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration between network members Oliver Heath, Sanjay Kumar (CSDS) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University). Does candidate religion influence vote choice? And if so, under what conditions does religion matter? Previous research has found that minority candidates can receive either an electoral advantage from members of their in-group and/or an electoral penalty from members of their out-group. However, the social mechanisms that underpin these candidate effects are not well understood. Some variant of social identity theory or empowerment theory is usually proffered to explain the ethnic advantage; whereas some variant of racial/religious discrimination is usually employed to explain the ethnic penalty. Both mechanisms imply an expressive calculus (identity / prejudice) and more instrumental mechanisms are rarely explored. Moreover, this research has been largely limited to studies of minorities in the advanced industrial democracies of Western Europe and North America. In this contribution we provide the first systematic analysis of the impact of candidate religion on voting behavior in an ethnically divided democracy: Uttar Pradesh, North India. The results from a series of conditional logit models shows that Muslims are indeed more likely to vote for Muslim candidates, but only when those candidates have a realistic chance of winning - there is thus a strong strategic element to their vote calculus. Moreover, we show that Hindus do not discriminate against Muslim candidates, and that parties do not face an electoral penalty for fielding a Muslim candidate. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Heath, O., Verniers, G., and Kumar, S. (2015) 'Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and political support in India' Electoral Studies |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and voting behaviour in India |
| Organisation | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration between network members Oliver Heath, Sanjay Kumar (CSDS) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University). Does candidate religion influence vote choice? And if so, under what conditions does religion matter? Previous research has found that minority candidates can receive either an electoral advantage from members of their in-group and/or an electoral penalty from members of their out-group. However, the social mechanisms that underpin these candidate effects are not well understood. Some variant of social identity theory or empowerment theory is usually proffered to explain the ethnic advantage; whereas some variant of racial/religious discrimination is usually employed to explain the ethnic penalty. Both mechanisms imply an expressive calculus (identity / prejudice) and more instrumental mechanisms are rarely explored. Moreover, this research has been largely limited to studies of minorities in the advanced industrial democracies of Western Europe and North America. In this contribution we provide the first systematic analysis of the impact of candidate religion on voting behavior in an ethnically divided democracy: Uttar Pradesh, North India. The results from a series of conditional logit models shows that Muslims are indeed more likely to vote for Muslim candidates, but only when those candidates have a realistic chance of winning - there is thus a strong strategic element to their vote calculus. Moreover, we show that Hindus do not discriminate against Muslim candidates, and that parties do not face an electoral penalty for fielding a Muslim candidate. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Heath, O., Verniers, G., and Kumar, S. (2015) 'Do Muslims voters prefer Muslim candidates? Co-religiosity and political support in India' Electoral Studies |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | American University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | Ashoka University |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | Sciences Po |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Organisation | University of London |
| Department | School of Advanced Study |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Network members Louise Tillin (King's College London) and Gilles Verniers (Ashoka University, New Delhi) have been invited to guest edit a special issue of the journal Contemporary South Asia on the Indian general elections 2014. This special issue brings together scholars within the network and beyond to address central questions for the research network including the impact of urbanisation on electoral outcomes, the relationship between electoral trends at local (state) and national levels, explanations for turnout, as well as questions of leadership and regional patterns that are particularly relevant to the 2014 electoral outcomes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners including Christophe Jaffrelot (Sciences Po), Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway), James Manor (University of London) as well as new collaborators from other institutions have contributed articles to the special issue which are currently under peer review. One contributor is a PhD student at King's College London, Smitana Saikia - fulfilling another goal of the network to facilitate involvement of PhD students at member institutions. |
| Impact | Special issue of Contemporary South Asia on Indian General Elections published in June 2015. Special issue contains seven peer-reviewed articles by four network members (Heath, Manor, Tillin and Jaffrelot), one by a King's College London PhD student affiliated to the network (Smitana Saikia) and two by other colleagues who attended the June 2014 workshop at King's College London on the Lok Sabha elections (Auerbach and Wyatt) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Party Exit, Party Entry and Turnout in India |
| Organisation | George Washington University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | New research collaboration between two network members - Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway) and Adam Ziegfeld (George Washington University, formerly at University of Oxford when grant began). The collaboration began after the Bangalore meeting of the network in January 2014. Abstract: Does the nature of political competition influence voter turnout? Whereas prior research exploring this link focuses on the number of parties and the competitiveness of races, we hypothesize that the entry and exit of parties should also affect turnout. Building on research on the costs of voting and voting as a habit, we identify and test three hypotheses linking party system change to turnout. First, we expect that turnout should decrease when major parties exit the party system, as some set of voters can no longer vote for their preferred party and must engage in costly information gathering if they wish to vote. Second, we expect that the entry of new parties should have a positive effect on turnout as new parties mobilize previously unengaged voters or those with tenuous partisan loyalties. Third, the entry of credible independent candidates should have a similarly positive influence on turnout. We test these hypotheses on district-level data from Indian national elections from 1977 through 2004. Regression analysis using fixed effects models reveals consistent evidence in favor of all three hypotheses. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Preliminary findings and research paper to be presented by the collaborators at the 2015 Midwest Political Science Association meetings, prior to submission for publication. Update (March 2016): a co-authored paper is currently under review - Heath, O., and Ziegfeld, A. 'Party exit, party entry and turnout in India, 1977-2004' Article was accepted for publication by Journal of Politics in 2017 (publication pending) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Party Exit, Party Entry and Turnout in India |
| Organisation | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | New research collaboration between two network members - Oliver Heath (Royal Holloway) and Adam Ziegfeld (George Washington University, formerly at University of Oxford when grant began). The collaboration began after the Bangalore meeting of the network in January 2014. Abstract: Does the nature of political competition influence voter turnout? Whereas prior research exploring this link focuses on the number of parties and the competitiveness of races, we hypothesize that the entry and exit of parties should also affect turnout. Building on research on the costs of voting and voting as a habit, we identify and test three hypotheses linking party system change to turnout. First, we expect that turnout should decrease when major parties exit the party system, as some set of voters can no longer vote for their preferred party and must engage in costly information gathering if they wish to vote. Second, we expect that the entry of new parties should have a positive effect on turnout as new parties mobilize previously unengaged voters or those with tenuous partisan loyalties. Third, the entry of credible independent candidates should have a similarly positive influence on turnout. We test these hypotheses on district-level data from Indian national elections from 1977 through 2004. Regression analysis using fixed effects models reveals consistent evidence in favor of all three hypotheses. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As above |
| Impact | Preliminary findings and research paper to be presented by the collaborators at the 2015 Midwest Political Science Association meetings, prior to submission for publication. Update (March 2016): a co-authored paper is currently under review - Heath, O., and Ziegfeld, A. 'Party exit, party entry and turnout in India, 1977-2004' Article was accepted for publication by Journal of Politics in 2017 (publication pending) |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Targeted Social Transfers, Political Clientelism and Modes of Accountability in North India |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Oliver Heath and Louise Tillin commenced a new research collaboration designed to examine linkages between government performance/service delivery across Indian states and voting behavior. The study seeks to exploit a 'quasi-natural' experiment by surveying villages along the border of two states which have adopted different models of reform to the delivery of public services - one state which has limited the role for political discretion in determining access/quality of service delivery; another in which we expect political patronage to continue to play a strong role. We will investigate whether different modes of voter behaviour/electoral accountability are discernible in the two states. This is a new collaboration between Heath and Tillin (both members of the network) and one which will address questions that were part of the initial grant proposal. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Heath and Tillin designed and conducted a survey in 40 villages on both sides of the state border between the two central Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The survey contained questions designed to assess how far differences in public service delivery in the two states influenced voting behaviour. The survey was conducted on the ground by colleagues at Guru Ghasidas University in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Oliver Heath conducted follow-up fieldwork in January 2014 after the survey had been completed to gather more qualitative information to inform data analysis. Tillin and Heath have subsequently worked together to write an article, with further publications planned on other elements of data analysis. |
| Impact | Heath, O., and Tillin, L. (revise and resubmit (minor revisions) Studies in Comparative International Development) 'Institutional Performance and Vote Buying in India' Talks/conference presentations: Heath and Tillin, 'Public service delivery and modes of electoral accountability In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' EECURI Meeting, Bangalore, 4th January 2014. 'Politics of welfare policies in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, India, 10th January 2014. Keynote. 'Institutions, Service Delivery and Vote-Buying in India' Politics, Service Delivery and Public Administration across Indian States. King's College London, January 28th 2016. Heath, 'Politics of welfare policies in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, India, 10th January 2014. Tillin, Targeted social transfers, political clientelism and modes of electoral accountability in central India', International Development Institute, King's College London, May 2014 |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Targeted Social Transfers, Political Clientelism and Modes of Accountability in North India |
| Organisation | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Oliver Heath and Louise Tillin commenced a new research collaboration designed to examine linkages between government performance/service delivery across Indian states and voting behavior. The study seeks to exploit a 'quasi-natural' experiment by surveying villages along the border of two states which have adopted different models of reform to the delivery of public services - one state which has limited the role for political discretion in determining access/quality of service delivery; another in which we expect political patronage to continue to play a strong role. We will investigate whether different modes of voter behaviour/electoral accountability are discernible in the two states. This is a new collaboration between Heath and Tillin (both members of the network) and one which will address questions that were part of the initial grant proposal. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Heath and Tillin designed and conducted a survey in 40 villages on both sides of the state border between the two central Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The survey contained questions designed to assess how far differences in public service delivery in the two states influenced voting behaviour. The survey was conducted on the ground by colleagues at Guru Ghasidas University in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Oliver Heath conducted follow-up fieldwork in January 2014 after the survey had been completed to gather more qualitative information to inform data analysis. Tillin and Heath have subsequently worked together to write an article, with further publications planned on other elements of data analysis. |
| Impact | Heath, O., and Tillin, L. (revise and resubmit (minor revisions) Studies in Comparative International Development) 'Institutional Performance and Vote Buying in India' Talks/conference presentations: Heath and Tillin, 'Public service delivery and modes of electoral accountability In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' EECURI Meeting, Bangalore, 4th January 2014. 'Politics of welfare policies in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, India, 10th January 2014. Keynote. 'Institutions, Service Delivery and Vote-Buying in India' Politics, Service Delivery and Public Administration across Indian States. King's College London, January 28th 2016. Heath, 'Politics of welfare policies in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh' Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, India, 10th January 2014. Tillin, Targeted social transfers, political clientelism and modes of electoral accountability in central India', International Development Institute, King's College London, May 2014 |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | The Politics and Ethnography of State and Local Elections, 2012-15 |
| Organisation | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The field work and research done for this project has led to considerable advancement of thinking on the issues that voters consider significant while making their electoral choices. The ethnographies unravel the embedded contexts within which voter deliberations are done, as also the meanings they attach to this activity. Both the context and the meaning are missed out in large-scale surveys of voter-opinions and political trends. Besides, new efforts have been made to fine-tune the research methods to cover urban areas, which involve a significant difference of context, and are under-researched as yet. The field sites have been carefully selected to highlight the conditions of marginal and disadvantaged social groups in rural and urban areas-this includes a special focus on social caste group of the scheduled castes, and the scheduled tribes, field sites where displacement has been caused due to development projects, and spatial locations of urban slums and unauthorized settlements. This variety helps bring a sharp focus on the question of why amidst (and notwithstanding) severe disadvantage and deprivation, voters turn out in large numbers in Indian elections-the original theme of investigation for the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In collaboration with a New Delhi, India, based fortnightly news-magazine "Governance Now", seven field sites have been researched during state level Assembly elections, to observe and record the entire electoral cycle. In addition, the national level Parliament (Lok Sabha) elections have been studied by India co-ordinator for the project. This collaboration has helped leverage the immense field knowledge available amongst journalists. Two special trainings were imparted to acquaint them with the details and nuances of the ethnographic method. |
| Impact | The ethnographic data emerging from the fieldwork in the state and national level elections has been shared in seminars and lectures, and as publications in the form of newspaper and journal articles. Report of Activities under Electoral Ethnography Component, EECURI Project: Project Director-Dr. Mukulika Banerjee, London School of Economics and Political Science; Researchers - Manisha Priyam, Sarthak Bagchi and Pankaj Kumar Jha Manisha Priyam outputs: Journal Articles • 2016 (forthcoming): Political Ethnography as a Method for Understanding Urban Politics and Elections in India, Studies in Indian Politics, Sage, July • 2015: "Electing the Ruling Party and the Opposition: Voter Deliberations from Sangam Vihar, Delhi, Lok Sabha Elections 2014", Studies in Indian Politics, Sage, July • 2014: "The Problem" Seminar (A Symposium on Life, Living and Struggle in Delhi's Urban Periphery), Volume 663, November, p.12 • 2014: "Pipe Dreams", Seminar (A Symposium on Life, Living and Struggle in Delhi's Urban Periphery), Volume 663, November, p. 23-27 Newspaper articles in English Newspapers • November 10, 2015: "Nitish Kumar Proves Investing in Development Can Reap Rich Dividends" The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Newspaper http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/nitish-kumar-proves-investing-in-development-can-reap-rich-dividends/story-zNEAGOdIBhJeAfCfUmus4J.html • October 17, 2015: "Why Bihar Voters Find it Hard to Disentangle "Vikas" from Caste" Thewire.in, Electronic Newspaper, Available at http://thewire.in/author/manisha-priyam/ • November 9, 2015: "Landslide for Grand Alliance is a Rejection of the Language of Extremes", Mint, Newspaper, http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/XSs0BAagCL8pSwfhGTTijO/Landslide-for-Grand-Alliance-is-a-rejection-of-the-language.html • October 20, 2014: "Analysing the tectonic shift", Mint, Newspaper http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Vbj11AtqJrGF0qWPABcqOL/Analysing-the-tectonic-shift.html • May 17, 2014: "Decoding the Narendra Modi Verdict", Mint, Newspaper, p10. http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/FbZka9HJCaZE38CASHVBhI/Decoding-the-Narendra-Modi-verdict.html • May 14, 2014: "How Accurate Are Exit Polls", Mint, Newspaper, p 7. http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/rG3xkvx72O45wwVdMgjZsM/How-accurate-are-exit-polls.html Newspaper articles in Hindi Newspapers • 11 February 2015: "AAP ki Abhutpoorva Kaamyaabee", Dainik Jagaran, Newspaper • 11 February 2015: "Janmat ko Samajhane Mein Naakaam Rahi Bhajapaa", Amar Ujala, Newspaper • 23 January 2015: "Dilli ki Ladaai Mein Anna ka Chehra", Amar Ujala, Newspaper • 20 October 2014: "Leek Todane Waale Nateeze", Amar Ujala, Newspaper Seminars and Conferences 2016, 17-18 January: "Caste and/or Development, and the 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections: Vignettes from Central Bihar", EECURI Conference, Sariska 2015,18 December: "Understanding Delhi from the Margins: New Conceptions of Citizenship in the City", Invited Lecture for Course MA in Urban and Regional Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 2015, 22 June: "Netas, Parshads, and the MLA: Political Actors in Delhi's Changing Political Landscape", Sciences-Po, Paris, EECURI Conference, 22-23 June 2015, 20 March: "Urban Marginality and School Education in Delhi", Seminar on: Public Education System and the Education of the Urban Poor, School of Educational Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi. September 2014: Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum lecture at the Claremont and Mckenna College "Indian Elections 2014: An Ethnographic Perspective from Below" August 2014: Third EECURI Networking meeting at Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi. "Electing the Ruling Party and the Opposition: Voter Deliberations from Sangam Vihar,Delhi, Lok Sabha Elections 2014 March 2014: "Bottom-up Perspectives to Indian National Elections 2014", Centre for Multi-level Federalism, New Delhi February 2014: "Bottom-up Perspectives to Indian National Elections", Seminar on prospects for National Elections 2014, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi January 2014:Second EECURI Networking meeting at Janagraha Bangalore-presentation on electoral ethnography on Delhi Assembly elections. Title : "Pipe-dreams: Unauthorised lives and Voter deliberations in Delhi's SangamVihar" March 2013: First EECURI Networking meeting at Kings College, London, UK, -presentation on electoral ethnographies in Gujarat state elections Television Appearances May 2014-Lok Sabha elections, Times Now Television December 2014- Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Delhi Assembly elections, India Today Television September-November 2015-Bihar Assembly elections, India Today Television Saarthak Bagchi outputs: Loud and Unclear: The choice between development and dignity for voters in Bihar, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, October 6, 2015 Link: - http://www.thehinducentre.com/the-arena/current-issues/article7730445.ece A Tale of Two Campaigns, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, October 31, 2015 Link: - http://www.thehinducentre.com/the-arena/current-issues/article7826538.ece Will to Power, Actually, The Indian Express, Opinion-Editorial, December 11, 2015 Link: - http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bihar-elections-nitish-kumar-lalu-prasad-yadav/ The Political Campaign, Seminar: The Bihar Ballot, Issue 678, February, 2015 Link: - http://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html Appearance/participation in Television/Media discussions A panel discussion on NDTV India's news show primetime hosted by Ravish Kumar - to discuss the myths broken in the Bihar assembly election 2015 Link: - http://khabar.ndtv.com/video/show/prime-time/prime-time-bihar-polls-broke-how-many-myths-390255 Seminar and Conferences Participated in a national one day seminar titled - Patterns of Mobilization, Dynamics of Power: Bihar 2015. It was organized by the Dept. of Sociology, SSS, JNU with ICSSR on 13th November 2015. Presented a paper on the election campaign, in the panel: The performance of Politics: Tracking campaigns and mobilization. Participated in the Sariska conference of EECURI Network held in January 2016 and presented a paper on Bihar elections in the panel for state assembly elections. Dr.Pankaj kumar jha (2014-16) outputs: Translated Book • 2014 (under-publication), Translated Why India Votes by Mukulika banerjee, in Hindi. Journal Article • 2016 (forthcoming), 'The rallies of seemanchal in Bihar election: through my own eyes'. in Democracies Published by Bhai jagjiwan ram research institute , Patna. March. Book Article • 2016 (forthcoming), 'Bharat mein matdan wahvhar', chapter in the book Constitutional Government and Process in Contemporary India for Delhi University Under-graduate course. English Newspaper • October,28.2015.'Lalu Yadav is our God' Beyond the indices of development, identity and pride also have their place in politics, published by India Today group. Link http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bihar-assembly-election-2015-lalu-yadav-is-our-god/1/509452.html • November, 3.2015. Bihar Assembly polls 2015: Seemanchal's biggest issue is nowhere its focus, published by India Today group. Link http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bihar-assembly-polls-2015-seemanchals-biggest-issue-is-nowhere-its-focus/1/514811.html • November, 5.2015. Bihar polls : The threatened and terrified Muslims of Seemanchal, Published by India Today group. Link-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bihar-polls-the-threatened-and-terrified-muslims-of-seemanchal/1/517191.html • November,10.2015 The way ahead for new Bihar and its challenges, Published by India Today group. Link http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/the-way-ahead-for-new-bihar-and-its-challenges/1/521097.html Hindi Newspaper • 7 January,2015. Demacratic deficit se ubre Jharkhand in Prabhat Khabar Ranchi edition. file:///C:/Users/expert/Downloads/RANCHI---City---city-page-18%20(2).pdf • 28 September,2015.Chunavi jumlo ki jeet-har, published in Dainik jagran Daily newspaper. Link -https://www.facebook.com/pankaj.jha.7161 • 23 October,2015.Ralliyon ka rajniti-sastra, published in Dainik jagran Daily newspaper. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206657200380501&set=a.1891703144121.102457.1587794268&type=3&theater • 28 October,2015.Hey babuni kaise ropab garma ke dhan published in kuch alag colum in Prabhat khabar Patna-ranchi edition. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206680659806972&set=a.1891703144121.102457.1587794268&type=3&theater Seminar and conferences • 2016,17-18 January. 'Development and the Subtext of Communalism: The Significance of the Seemanchal Region in Bihar Election',EECURI Conference, Sariska. |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Welfare at the time of Elections in India |
| Organisation | Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Louise Tillin at King's College London collaborated with CSDS (and academics affiliated with CSDS, Rajeshwari Deshpande and KK Kailash) to design questions on welfare and state elections in India. These questions were included in the State Election Studies conducted by CSDS in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2016. The questions were designed to assess whether voters had benefited from different welfare programmes,their attitudes towards government welfare programmes and the connections to voting behaviour. We were able to access data on voting behaviour and social background asked as part of the election studies. These questions help us to look at the extent to which the provision of welfare by state governments influences voter behaviour (addressing one of the key questions for the research network on whether there has been a shift from identity to interests in voting behaviour) |
| Collaborator Contribution | CSDS conducted surveys in each of the states during the 2016 state elections. They added the questions Louise Tillin designed with KK Kailash and Rajeshwari Deshpande to their surveys, and made the data available to us for analysis. |
| Impact | Data analysis ongoing for a paper that is intended for submission to the journal Studies in Indian Politics Louise Tillin presented preliminary analysis at the final network conference held at LSE in June 2016 |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Welfare at the time of Elections in India |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Louise Tillin at King's College London collaborated with CSDS (and academics affiliated with CSDS, Rajeshwari Deshpande and KK Kailash) to design questions on welfare and state elections in India. These questions were included in the State Election Studies conducted by CSDS in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2016. The questions were designed to assess whether voters had benefited from different welfare programmes,their attitudes towards government welfare programmes and the connections to voting behaviour. We were able to access data on voting behaviour and social background asked as part of the election studies. These questions help us to look at the extent to which the provision of welfare by state governments influences voter behaviour (addressing one of the key questions for the research network on whether there has been a shift from identity to interests in voting behaviour) |
| Collaborator Contribution | CSDS conducted surveys in each of the states during the 2016 state elections. They added the questions Louise Tillin designed with KK Kailash and Rajeshwari Deshpande to their surveys, and made the data available to us for analysis. |
| Impact | Data analysis ongoing for a paper that is intended for submission to the journal Studies in Indian Politics Louise Tillin presented preliminary analysis at the final network conference held at LSE in June 2016 |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Analysis of Karnataka state elections |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | James Manor presented initial findings from fieldwork supported by this grant to the Times of India newsroom in Bangalore and in a public lecture at the Bangalore International Centre. Interviews with Professor Manor on the election appeared in English and Kannada (the regional language, which he speaks) in six Bangalore newspapers and on one television channel |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Dissemination of ethnographic findings in Indian media |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Members of the ethnography component of the network conducting fieldwork during state and panchayat elections, have published widely about their findings in Indian newspapers (hindi and English), and made TV appearances. This dissemination was intended to raise awareness of the local dynamics that shape electoral processes and decision-making at the state and most local levels in India. They helped to inform the discussion of elections in the Indian media in this period, especially by bringing to light situations specific to the urban poor and in rural panchayat elections which are seldom covered in depth by the mainstream press in India. Selected details as below: Manisha Priyam: Newspaper articles in English Newspapers • November 10, 2015: "Nitish Kumar Proves Investing in Development Can Reap Rich Dividends" The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Newspaper • October 17, 2015: "Why Bihar Voters Find it Hard to Disentangle "Vikas" from Caste" Thewire.in, Electronic Newspaper • November 9, 2015: "Landslide for Grand Alliance is a Rejection of the Language of Extremes", Mint, Newspaper, • October 20, 2014: "Analysing the tectonic shift", Mint, Newspaper • May 14, 2014: "How Accurate Are Exit Polls", Mint, Newspaper, p 7. Newspaper articles in Hindi Newspapers • 11 February 2015: "AAP ki Abhutpoorva Kaamyaabee", Dainik Jagaran, Newspaper • 11 February 2015: "Janmat ko Samajhane Mein Naakaam Rahi Bhajapaa", Amar Ujala, Newspaper • 23 January 2015: "Dilli ki Ladaai Mein Anna ka Chehra", Amar Ujala, Newspaper • 20 October 2014: "Leek Todane Waale Nateeze", Amar Ujala, Newspaper Television Appearances May 2014-Lok Sabha elections, Times Now Television December 2014- Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Delhi Assembly elections, India Today Television September-November 2015-Bihar Assembly elections, India Today Television SARTHAK BAGCHI Will to Power, Actually, The Indian Express, Opinion-Editorial, December 11, 2015 TV appearance on a panel discussion on NDTV India's news show primetime hosted by Ravish Kumar - to discuss the myths broken in the Bihar assembly election 2015 PANKAJ KUMAR JHA English Newspaper • October 28, 2015. "Lalu Yadav is our God': Beyond the indices of development, identity and pride also have their place in politics", India Today. • November 3, 2015. Bihar Assembly Polls 2015: "Seemanchal's biggest issue is nowhere its focus", India Today . • November 5,2015: "Bihar polls: The threatened and terrified Muslims of Seemanchal", India Today • November 10, 2015 "The way ahead for new Bihar and its challenges", India Today Hindi Newspaper • 7 January, 2015. "Democratic deficit se ubre Jharkhand" in Prabhat Khabar Ranchi edition. • 28 September,2015. "Chunavi jumlo ki jeet-har", Dainik Jagran • 23 October,2015. "Ralliyon ka rajniti-sastra", Dainik Jagran • 28 October,2015. "Hey babuni kaise ropab garma ke dhan", Prabhat Khabar |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
| Description | EECURI Conference at Janaagraha (Bangalore) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop focused on analysing the urban dimensions of changes in electoral politics. Hosted by our NGO partner, Janaagraha in Bangalore, it provided a networking opportunity for NGO staff and academics from India and Europe enhancing the reach of academic research conducted by network members. The conference also involved presentation by network members of fieldwork conducted as part of the network during recent elections in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. The conference also enabled members to discuss their planned publications. Conference panels included: Elections in the City: Urban Electoral Trends Urban- Rural Comparative Perspectives: Is there a changing face to electoral politics as India urbanizes? The Remarkable Rise of the AAP: Theoretical Underpinnings and Analysis Electoral Accountability Analysis of Recent State Elections Roundtable Discussion ~ECCURI Network Outputs- Planning for contributors' publications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | EECURI Conference in SARISKA, RAJASTHAN (18-19 January, 2016) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This network conference led by Indian partners JNU provided the opportunity to discuss research on the Bihar state elections in 2015, and other recent elections. It was largely constituted by members of the Indian team, but Manisha Priyam (a member of Mukulika Banerjee's team at LSE) also participated. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | EECURI Workshop on the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections (King's College London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This day-long workshop focused on analysing the dynamics behind the Lok Sabha (parliamentary) election results of 2014 taking in the performance and strategies of political parties; the reasons for the BJP's unprecedented success under Narendra Modi's leadership; voter behaviour; regional races; the overall conduct of the elections and the resulting patterns of political representation. In the evening, a public panel discussion attended by c.100 members of the public/students turned attention to the consequences of the 2014 elections for the future of Indian democracy. Overall the workshop helped to reach a wider audience because of its public engagement activities. It was supported by other media appearances by members of the network during the 2014 parliamentary elections which received wide coverage in India and Europe. It helped to disseminate research about the causes of the BJP victory, helping to better inform media debate. The workshop was also attended by the former chief election commissioner in India, S.Y Qureishi - bringing in additional practitioner perspectives to the discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Final network conference: From Identity to Interests? Quantitative and Qualitative explanations of electoral change in rural and urban India (LSE, London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This major international conference brought together leading scholars of Indian democracy to engage with the work of members of the network and to revisit the questions that had framed the original goals of the network. In the research proposal we had proposed to study the following themes: • to explore voter motivations to vote in electing different tiers of government • whether voters were moving from identity related to issue based motivations • to study if this was as true in cities, if not in villages • what is the nature of caste and religion based politic in urban electoral spaces as compared to rural ones • the changing profile of elected representatives - including MLAs, members of Panchayats and urban municipal corporations • role of local dynasties and resilience of patronage in electoral politics • to explore the complementarity of survey-based and ethnographic approaches in the study of elections • to focus in particular on state and Panchayat elections The network brought together researchers based at Sciences Po (Jaffrelot), colleagues in JNU (Kanungo) and BR Ambedkar University (Narender Kumar), Kings India Institute (Tillin) and LSE (Banerjee) as well as Janaagraha in Bangalore. In the final conference, we revisited these themes through the fresh research that has been conducted by members of the network over the past few years and to engage in conversation colleagues who have been working on related themes. These include those focused more on clientelism (and transitions from it, including the impact of changing patterns of service delivery) (Chandra), dynastic politics (Chandra, Jensenius), the particular trajectories of politics in urban areas (Bjorkman), the variation in electoral politics across India's states and the role of identity (caste, religion, gender etc) in determining election outcomes (Jensenius, Heath, Chibber). We also intend to invite scholars who have been part of this project through their writing and active participation working on related issues (Sinha, Vaid, Uday Chandra) to comment and engage on the outcomes of the EECURI project and to take conversations forward. We also discussed how to build on the network activities through future publication and grant applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Indian General Election analysis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | PI Louise Tillin wrote extensively in the Indian press in the run-up to and aftermath of Indian general elections. Her piece in the Indian Express four days after the election results were announced was the first analysis to highlight the extraordinary vote to seat share conversion of the BJP in the elections The article in the Indian Express, Stories of a Wave, influenced subsequent debate and analysis of the elections by academics and journalists. It prompted further requests for interviews and editorials from Indian and international media outlets. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/stories-of-a-wave/ |
| Description | Network conference: Explaining Electoral Change in Urban and Rural India |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | First network conference including all principal investigators and researchers from India, France and UK teams of the project. Conference focused on the following themes - Electoral Politics in Urban India Civic Engagement and Democracy in Indian Cities Caste, Class and Dynasty in Urban and Rural India Studying Local Politics using Ethnographic and Statistical Methods across Urban and Rural Spaces State Elections in 2012 This conference initiated the network, enabled members to meet and begin new collaborations, as well as to plan future network activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Public event: Indian General Elections 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public panel discussion on the Indian general elections including 3 members of the research network, and two external participants. Held at King's College London with video/audio streaming. Over 100 people in attendance on the night, with vigorous debate after the initial presentations. Podcasts downloaded after the event, and promoted via King's India Institute twitter account/social media accounts (1500 plus followers). Increased requests from media organisations and policy makers for comment and expert discussion on the election outcomes. This included PI Louise Tillin taking part in high level advisory panel discussion at Foreign and Commonwealth Office. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/worldwide/initiatives/global/indiainstitute/Events/Events-Archive/In... |
| Description | Studying Elections: Reflections on Methods (JNU workshop) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A workshop led by Indian partner JNU to look at questions around research methodologies for studying elections in India from ethnography (discussions led by the LSE team) to quantitative and survey research. PhD students from the main partners were invited to make presentations of their work - thus the workshop was part of the capacity building activities enabled by the network. It also involved senior scholars from France and India as presenters and discussants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | The elected representatives of India : MPs, MLAs and others (CERI-Sciences Po, Paris) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop focused on the network theme around the social profile of elected representatives within Indian states, with discussions of future planned publications led by the French partners. Panels included: Candidates and MPs Caste, class, education, gender and religion The case of Delhi Dynasties Round table on recent state and local elections The 2014 Lok Sabha elections one year after (roundtable on two special issues published by the network looking at the 2014 Lok Sabha election results) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | The profiling of the Indian MLAs (CERI-Sciences Po, Paris) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This was a technical workshop focused on developing the work on profiling political representatives at the state level. Discussions focused on - Methods and Problems in the Profiling of Indian Legislators. (coding caste, class, education, political families and individual incumbency). The social profile of the MLAs in four Indian states |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |