Political Economy of India
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 November 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 November 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0230
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 November 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 November 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0230
Introduction
Independent India is seventy years old (1947–2017) and may be the fastest-growing economy in the world. Yet, poverty, inequalities, and digital divides continue to bedevil the Indian economy. This combined paradox of economic success and deprivation for many makes the study of Indian political economy complex, interesting, and consequential. Academic assessment of India affects the lives and livelihood of millions of people. India and South Asia are engaged in a consequential “human drama,” an evocative phrase used by Gunnar Myrdal (see Myrdal 1968, cited under Political Economy of the Nehruvian State). What could be more important to study? Every economic and social analysis of India needs to be based in an understanding of the background of politics and economics, especially their intersections. If we talk of economic growth, we need to simultaneously bring in our understanding of the basis of that growth or the issues of distributional impact. Almost all economic challenges faced by a developing and poor yet growing economy bring political and economic questions and facts to the fore. Political economy is at the heart of India and its ongoing developmental trajectory. Political economy analysis of India, therefore, spans a fascinating set of debates and scholarly issues. More recently, as the Indian economy has become more complex, new approaches, questions, and literature have emerged, making the study of India’s political economy a large, productive, and sprawling field. This collection of relevant citations starts with general books, which are large topic-based compendiums and edited volumes covering a large range of material and themes. They are good starting points for any researcher, as they bring together a number of authors and approaches under one book cover. India’s developmental trajectory can be broken into two broad phases. The first of these is the Nehruvian period, which, it could be argued, lasted until 1991. Then, in 1991, sustainable economic reforms set India onto a new growth path. The logic of the origins of reforms must be distinguished from the logic of the sustainability of reforms. Thus, the reform period 1985–current can be broken into two separate phases. This article is organized according to the following structure. The first section focuses on General Overviews of India’s politics and political economy. The next section focuses on the Political Economy of the Nehruvian State, which underlies the Nehruvian model of development. Some thematic subsections are also interspersed: Agrarian Political Economy and Regional Political Economy and Federalism apart from class and societal analysis of the liberalization period. Then, the rest of the bibliographic paper is organized by the different phases of the Political Economy of Economic Reforms in India, including Recent Monographs on Political Economy, the Reforms of the 1980s, and the Reforms of the 1990s, followed by more thematic subsections. A separate subsection is devoted to policy and institutional studies and Class Analysis, Labor, and Politics of Reforms.
General Overviews
The books outlined in this section are mostly general overviews, special issues, and edited books that cover a broad array of themes related to India’s political economy. They can be used as reference companions to anyone starting to read about India and can also be considered go-to volumes for recent debates and approaches to the subject. They are exhaustive and touch upon a large number of topic areas. They reveal that India’s political economy is complex and stratified and has been undergoing rapid changes in the last few decades. The annual publication India Briefing focuses on economic and political developments in each year. Jayal and Mehta 2010 analyzes diverse themes related to democratic changes by scholars who are experts on each topic. Ghate 2012 is a collection by economists and focuses on policy issues and economic debates. Joshi 2017 is a comprehensive introduction to the current possibilities and future challenges of the Indian economy. Kohli and Singh 2013 is a useful collection largely written by political scientists. Two volumes, Corbridge and Harriss 2000 and Corbridge, et al. 2013, provide a synthetic account of the rise of Hindu nationalism and economic changes underway in India. Ruparelia, et al. 2011 deploys a Polanyi framework to understand contradictory developments within India. An edited volume, Pai 2013 analyzes political developments across many states. Varshney 2013 is a collection of previously published articles touching upon the interaction between democratic development and economic issues. Jha and Schöttli 2019 is a special issue devoted to globalization in India and covers recent topics and a way to understand the Indian variety of globalization.
Corbridge, Stuart, and John Harriss. Reinventing India: Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2000.
Focusing on multiple changes within India, this book brings a synthetic vision to analyzing the complexities of change in the 1990s. It uses the lens of invention and reinvention to understand how different actors and institutions have reimagined India across different phases: within the Constituent Assembly to imagine a new nation, the new developmental state in the 1950s and then the 1991 reforms that generated a powerful new political economy, and more recent imaginations that are more contested and subject to a process of conflicting interpretations.
Corbridge, Stuart, John Harriss, and Craig Jeffrey, eds. India Today: Economy, Politics and Society. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2013.
This useful book is organized as a set of thirteen questions centered on the theme of politics and political economy. Questions such as “When and why did India take off?” and “Will India reap its demographic dividend?” are well researched with facts, and plausible causal arguments and answers to the questions are given. The book is useful for both research and teaching.
Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
A comprehensive collection written mostly by economists on diverse topics related to the Indian economy. The volume uses the prism of equitable and broad-based long-term growth to analyze a diverse set of themes and issues. Sections include historical developments, rural poverty, industrialization, social infrastructure, policy issues, macroeconomic policy reform, and India in the world economy. Many political economy issues are covered.
Jayal, Niraja Gopal, and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, eds. The Oxford Companion to Politics in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010.
A large, useful collection organized around the theme of Indian democracy. It seeks to bring together myriad themes and questions, all with a view to understand “the mechanisms by which democracy has been sustained” (p. xvi). Sections of the book include institutional setting, social cleavages and identity politics, political processes, ideological contestation, social movements, and politics and policy (including many political economy chapters), along with a section on India in the world.
Jenkins, Rob, ed. Special Issue: India’s Economic Reforms. India Review 3.4 (October 2004).
This special issue is a collection of seven refereed articles on different aspects of India’s ongoing reform agenda. Articles focus on general overviews by an architect of India’s reform program (Ahluwalia), an analysis of regulatory agencies in telecom (Mukherji), financial liberalization (Echeverri-Gent), labor reforms (Jenkins), the role of ideas and the diaspora (Kapur), regional capital dimensions of India’s reform (Baru), and the changes in the composition of India’s middle classes (Sridharan).
Jha, Himanshu, and Jivanta Schöttli, eds. Special Issue: Globalization and Governance in India. India Review 18.1 (2019).
Four research articles combined with an introduction (Mukherji) and an epilogue (Mitra) focus on different aspects of globalization and how the political economy of India is changing. The research articles focus on a theory of reform consolidation that offers a broad synoptic view of the whole trajectory of reforms undergirded by a theory of policy feedback (Sinha), a data driven analysis of the global managerial elites (Schöttli and Pohlmann), an institutional history of the right to information (Jha), and an analysis of microfinance in India (Pauli).
Joshi, Vijay. India’s Long Road: The Search for Prosperity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610135.001.0001
A broad and comprehensive survey of the structural—“growth challenge” and issue-specific aspects of the Indian economy—education, health and safety nets—bound by a coherent argument that the foundations of India’s search for prosperity are fragile and need nurturing. It provides policy suggestions along the way.
Kohli, Atul, and Prerna Singh, eds. Routledge Handbook of Indian Politics. London and New York: Routledge, 2013.
An edited volume that focuses on India’s historical legacy, leaders, political institutions, identity and community politics, political change, political economy, regional developments, and India’s place in the world. The political section chapters are marked by an attention to growth, redistribution, power of business, and provision of public goods.
Oldenburgh, Philip, ed. India Briefing. 10 vols. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1987–2005.
The Asia Society sponsored the publication of ten annual briefings ending that cover a wide variety of themes analyzing developments within India. The ten volumes cover annual developments up to early 2000s. The purpose is to outline the facts in an analytical and academic manner. Policymakers and general readers will find it of much interest. A useful chronology of major developments in the previous one or two years is included at the end of each volume.
Pai, Sudha, ed. Handbook of Politics in Indian States: Regions, Parties and Economic Reforms. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013.
An edited volume with a wide range of book chapters touching upon new developments across states in terms of three themes: historical legacies of regionalism, political parties and electoral politics in key states, and social movements and economic reforms across key states.
Ruparelia, Sanjay, Sanjay Reddy, John Harriss, and Stuart Corbridge, eds. Understanding India’s New Political Economy: A Great Transformation? London and New York: Routledge, 2011.
Adopting a rare synthetic approach, this edited volume aims to analyze three major transformations underway in India: the economic reform policies of 1991, the rise of Hindu nationalism, and the mobilization of diverse classes into the political realm. What are the causal connections between these three seemingly separate developments and how can we understand all three together? These questions form the ambition of this book.
Varshney, Ashutosh. Battles Half-Won: India’s Improbable Democracy. New Delhi: Viking, 2013.
A handy collection of articles published previously by Ashutosh Varshney. The included articles center on the issue of the survival of India’s democracy and economic development. Many of the articles are written clearly and concisely and can serve as readings in courses and teaching.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Oceania, Gender, Indigenous and Ethnic Political Represent...
- Advanced Democracies, Electoral System Reform in
- Advanced Democracies, Public Opinion and Public Policy in
- Advertising and Election Campaigns in the United States
- Africa, Comparative Politics of
- Africa, Ethnic, Linguistic, Religious, and Regional Minori...
- Africa, Public Opinion in
- Africa, Women’s Political Representation in
- African Development, Politics of
- American Indian Politics
- Ancient Chinese Political Thought
- Arab Spring, The
- Arab-Israel Conflict, The
- Arendt, Hannah
- Argentine Government and Politics
- Aristotle's Political Thought
- Arms Race Modeling
- Asia, Environmental Politics in
- Asia, Water Politics in
- Asian American Mobilization and Political Identities
- Australia and New Zealand, Comparative Politics of
- Authoritarian Regimes, Lawyers in
- Authoritarianism in Russia
- Authoritarianism in the Public
- Authoritarianism in Turkey
- Bicameralism in Stable Democracies
- Big Data in Political Science Research
- Biopolitics and State Regulation of Human Life
- Birthright Citizenship
- Brazilian Foreign Policy
- Brazilian Political Development
- Brexit, British Politics, and European Integration
- Business-State Relations in Europe
- Campaign Finance in the Era of Super-PACS
- Canadian Foreign Policy
- Canadian Government and Politics
- Candidate Emergence and Recruitment
- Caribbean, Elections and Democracy in the
- Celebrities in US Politics
- Channels of Electoral Representation in Advanced Industria...
- China, Political Economy of
- China's One-Child Policy
- China-Taiwan Relations
- Chinese Communist Party
- Chinese Economic Policy
- Chinese Nationalism
- Civil Society in South Asia
- Civil War in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Civil-Military Relations in Asia
- Class in American Politics
- Climate Change and Politics
- Collective Memory
- Colombian Politics and Government
- Comparative Capitalism Theory
- Comparative Industrial Relations in Europe
- Comparative Political Economy of Resource Extraction
- Comparative Politics of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bis...
- Comparative Politics of Chile and Uruguay
- Comparative Politics of Federalism
- Comparative Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
- Computational Social Science
- Congress, Defense, and Foreign Policy
- Congressional Reassertion of Authority
- Conservative Litigation Strategies and Groups in US Judici...
- Constitution, Ratification of the
- Constitutional Politics in Asia
- Constitutionalism
- Corruption in China
- Cosmopolitan Political Thought
- Crisis of European Integration in Historical Perspective, ...
- Critical Elections, Partisan Realignment, and Long-Term El...
- Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School
- Cuban Political Development
- Cycles of Protest
- Democracies, Political Clientelism in
- Democracy and Authoritarianism, Empirical Indicators of
- Democracy and Authoritarianism in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Democracy and Dictatorship in Central Asia
- Democracy and Minority Language Recognition
- Democracy in Latin America
- Democratic Citizenship
- Democratic Consolidation
- Democratic Peace Theory
- Democratic Theory
- Democratization
- Democratization in Africa
- Democratization in Central America
- Democratization in Mexico
- Democratization in the Muslim World
- Development of Survey Research
- Diasporas and Politics
- Direct Democracy in the United States
- Dual Citizenship
- East Africa, Politics of
- East and Southeast Asia, Political Party Systems in
- East and Southeast Asia, Women and Politics in
- East Asia, Civil Society and Social Movements in
- Economic Voting
- Effects of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on American Public O...
- Egalitarianism
- Election Forecasting
- Election Laws in Democracies
- Election Observation and the Detection of Fraud
- Electoral and Party System Development in Sub-Saharan Afri...
- Electoral Assistance
- Electoral Change in Latin America
- Electoral Institutions and Women’s Representation
- Electoral Reform and Voting in the United States
- Electoral Volatility in the New Democracies of Latin Ameri...
- Electronic Voting Systems
- Emotion and Racial Attitudes in Contemporary American Poli...
- Environmental Governance
- Environmental Politics among Advanced Industrial Democraci...
- Ethnic Diasporas and US Foreign Policy
- Ethnic Politics
- Eurasia, Comparative Politics of
- European Parliament, The
- European Social Democracy
- European Union, Politics of the
- Extension of Voting Rights to Emigrants
- Failed and Weak States in Theory and Practice
- Far-Right Parties in Europe
- Federalism in the United States
- Feminist Political Thought
- Field Experiments
- Filibuster, The
- Framing Effects in Political Communication
- Gender and Electoral Politics in the United States
- Gender and International Relations
- Gender and Political Violence
- Gender and Politics in South Asia
- Gender, Behavior, and Representation
- Gender Gap in US Public Opinion
- Gender Stereotypes in Politics
- Genetic Underpinnings of Political Attitudes and Behaviors
- German Politics and Government
- Global Inequality
- Globalization and the Welfare State
- Globalization, Health Crises, and Health Care
- Governance in Africa
- Governmental Responses to Political Corruption
- Gridlock and Divided Government in the U.S.
- Health-Care Politics in the United States
- Hegemony
- Historiography of Twentieth-Century American Conservatism,...
- Hobbes’s Political Thought
- Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of
- Hume’s Political Thought
- Hybrid Regimes
- Ideal Point Estimation
- Identity and Political Behavior
- Ideological Reasoning in Politics
- Illiberal Democracies and Democratic Backsliding
- Immigrant Incorporation in Canada
- Immigrant Incorporation in Western Europe
- Immigration and European Politics
- Immigration and International Relations
- Immigration Politics and Policy in the United States
- Impact of Campaign Contributions on Congressional Behavior...
- Impact of C-SPAN on US Democracy
- Implicit Attitudes in Public Opinion
- Income Dynamics and Politics in North America and Europe
- Income Inequality and Advanced Democracies
- Income Inequality in the United States, The Politics of
- Independent Voters, The Study of
- Indian Democracy
- Indigenous Politics and Representation in Latin America
- Indigenous Rights and Governance in Canada, Australia, and...
- Indonesia, Politics of
- Informal Practices of Accountability in Urban Africa
- Institutional Change in Advanced Democracies
- Institutional Factors Affecting Women’s Political Engageme...
- Intellectual Property in International Relations
- Interest Groups and Inequality in the United States
- Interest Groups in American Politics
- Interethnic Contact and Impact on Attitudes
- International Conflict Management
- International Criminal Justice
- International Law
- International NGOs
- International Political Economy of Illegal Drugs
- Internet and Politics, The
- Intersectionality in Political Science
- Interstate Border Dispute Management in the Indo-Pacific
- Iran, Political Development of
- Israeli Politics
- Italian Politics and Government
- Judicial Supremacy and National Judicial Review
- Judiciaries and Politics in East Asia
- Kant's Political Thought
- Labor Migration: Dynamics and Politics
- Labor Politics in East Asia
- Land Reform in Latin America
- Latin America, Democratic Transitions in
- Latin America, Electoral Reform in
- Latin America, Environmental Policy and Politics in
- Latin America, Guerrilla Insurgencies in
- Latin America, Social Movements in
- Legal Mobilization
- LGBT Politics in the United States
- Liberal Pluralism
- Libertarianism
- Local Governments in the United States
- Machiavelli’s Political Thought
- Malaysian Politics and Government
- Marx's Political Thought
- Mass Incarceration and US Politics
- Mechanisms of Representation
- Media Effects in Politics
- Media Politics in South Asia
- Mexican Political Development
- Mexican Politics and Government
- Military Government in Latin America, 1959–1990
- Minority Governments
- Minority Political Engagement and Representation in the Un...
- Mixed-Member Electoral Systems
- Modern Dynastic Rule
- Modern Elections and Voting Behavior in Europe
- Motivated Reasoning
- Narrative Analysis
- National Interbranch Politics in the United States
- Nationalism
- NATO, Politics of
- Negative Campaigning
- Neoclassical Realism
- New Institutionalism Revisited, The
- Nigerian Politics and Government
- North America, Comparative Politics of
- Oil, Politics of
- Online Public Opinion Polling
- Organized Criminal Syndicates and Governance in Mexico and...
- Origins and Impact of Proportional Representation, The
- Outcomes of Social Movements and Protest Activities
- Partisan and Nonpartisan Theories of Organization in the U...
- Partisan Polarization in the US Congress
- Partisan Polarization in the US Electorate
- Party Networks
- Party System Institutionalization in Democracies
- Peace Operations
- Personality and Politics
- Personalization of Politics
- Philippine Politics and Government
- Plato’s Political Thought
- Policy Feedback
- Policy Responsiveness to Public Opinion
- Political Ambition
- Political Economy of Financial Regulation in Advanced Ind...
- Political Economy of India
- Political Economy of Taxation, The
- Political Geography in American Politics
- Political Humor and Its Effects
- Political Institutions and the Policymaking Process in Lat...
- Political Obligation
- Political Participation and Representation, Black
- Political Parties and Electoral Politics of Japan
- Political Roles and Activities of Former Presidents and Pr...
- Political Thought, Hegel's
- Political Thought of the American Founders, The
- Politics and Government, Australian
- Politics and Government, BeNeLux
- Politics and Policy in Contemporary Argentina
- Politics, Gender Quotas in
- Politics of Anti-Americanism
- Politics of Class Formation
- Politics of Disaster Prevention and Management
- Politics of Ethnic Identity in China
- Politics of Financial Crises
- Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in South Asia
- Politics of Higher Education in the U.S.
- Politics of Internal Conquest in the United States and Can...
- Politics of Japan
- Politics of Natural Disasters, The
- Politics of North Korea
- Politics of Science and Technology
- Politics of South Africa
- Politics of Southern Africa
- Politics of the American South
- Politics of the Philippines: From Rizal to Duterte
- Politics of the US-Mexico Border
- Populism
- Populism in Latin America
- Positive and Negative Partisanship
- Postcolonial Political Theory
- Postcolonialism and International Relations
- Post-Communist Democratization
- Preferential Trade Agreements, Politics of
- Presidential Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspectiv...
- Presidential Persuasion and Public Opinion
- Presidential Primaries and Caucuses
- Private Governance
- Protest Participation
- Public Opinion in Affluent Democracies
- Public Opinion in Europe toward the European Union
- Public Opinion in New Democracies and Developing Nations
- Public Opinion on Immigration
- Public Opinion toward the Environment and Climate Change i...
- Public Presidency, US Elections, and the Permanent Campaig...
- Qualitative Methods, The Renewal of
- Race in American Political Thought
- Racial and Ethnic Descriptive Representation in the United...
- Recruitment and Selection for Elected Office
- Redistricting and Electoral Competition in American Politi...
- Referendums and Direct Democracy
- Regime Transitions and Variation in Post-Communist Europe
- Regional Integration
- Regional Integration in Latin America
- Regional Security
- Regulating Food Production
- Religion and Politics in Latin America
- Religion in American Political Thought
- Religion in Contemporary Political Thought
- Religion, Politics, and Civic Engagement in the United Sta...
- Republicanism
- Rousseau’s Political Thought
- Rule of Law
- Russia and the West
- Science and Democracy
- Science and Social Movements
- Secession and Secessionist Movements
- Semi-Presidential Systems
- Social Networks, Mass Publics, and Democratic Politics
- Social Policy and Immigrant Integration
- South Asian Political Thought
- South Korea, Politics of
- Southeast Asia, International Relations in
- Southeast Asian Politics
- Spanish Politics and Government
- Spectacle, The
- Sport and Politics
- State Building in Sub-Saharan Africa
- State Formation
- State, The Nature of the
- State-Society Relations in South Asia
- Stereotypes in Political Reasoning
- Supreme Court and Public Opinion
- Supreme Court of the United States, The
- Systemic Theories of International Politics
- Taiwan, Politics of
- Tea Party, The
- Thailand, Politics of
- The Crisis of European Integration in Historical Perspecti...
- The New Right in American Political Thought
- The Politics of Parenthood: Attitudes, Behavior, Policy, a...
- The Politics of Waste and Social Inequalities in Indian Ci...
- Third-Party Politics in the United States
- Tocqueville’s Political Thought
- Transboundary Pollution
- Transitional Justice
- Transnational Private Regulation
- Trust in Latin American Governing Institutions
- Turkey, Political Development of
- US Military Bases Abroad
- US Politics, Neoliberalism in
- US Presidency, The
- US Presidential Campaigns and Their Impact
- Venezuela, The Path Toward Authoritarianism in
- Voter Support for Women Candidates
- Voter Turnout
- Voter Turnout Field Experiments
- Voting Technology and Election Administration in the Unite...
- War, Factors Influencing Popular Support for
- Welfare State Development
- Welfare State Development in Latin America
- Welfare State Development in Western Europe
- West Africa, Politics of
- White Identity Politics
- Women and Conflict Studies
- Women’s Inclusion in Executive Cabinets
- Women’s Legal and Constitutional Rights
- Women’s Political Activism and Civic Engagement in Latin A...
- Women’s Representation in Governmental Office in Latin Ame...
- Women’s Representation in the Middle East and North Africa
- Workers’ Politics in China
- Youth and Generational Differences in US Politics