Views from the Indian Electorate: Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions with Democracy, Politics and the Economy

In this paper I present findings from Chapter 2 of the forthcoming book by Alfred Stepan, Juan J. Linz and Yogendra Yadav titled "Crafting State-Nations: India and Other Multinational Democracies". The results presented here are largely drawn from responses to the National Election Studies (NES) and the State of the Nation Surveys coordinated by the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, India over six national elections between 1971-2009. We focus on questions as they pertain to support for democracy, political efficacy and political participation in India. In particular, I focus on the responses of the seven most marginalized groups in the country based on their caste, religious, economic and gender status. These groups are Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Muslim, Very Poor, Poor, Illiterate and Female respondents. The first section of the paper outlines the details of CSDS surveys, how they were conducted and how they compare to alternative national surveys in India and elsewhere. Subsequent sections delve into why India makes a critical case for the "State-Nation" model in our book and the results of the surveys. In the final section of the paper I present results from questions on the Indian economy and how economic change has affected people's perception of their wellbeing

“Nation State” or “State Nation”?: Conceptual Reflections and Some Spanish, Belgian and Indian Data

human development, culture

Estados em vias de integração e de desintegração

In the above article, the authors present the following thesis: multi-ethnic federations in transition from authoritarian regimes to democracy have a much better chance of maintaining its political unity if the initial elections during such transitional period are all-union elections as opposed to regional or provincial elections. The thesis is argued thru the comparative analysis of the Spain, ex URSS and Yugoslavia cases.Neste artigo os autores levantam a seguinte tese: os países constituídos por federações multiétnicas, em processo de transição de autoritarismo para a democracia, têm maior probabilidade de manter sua união política se as primeiras eleições e tomadas de voto, desse período transacional, forem eleições de caráter nacional (geral, de toda a União) ao invés de eleições regionais ou provinciais. A tese apresentada é defendida pela análise comparada dos casos de Espanha e de ex-União Soviética e Iugoslávia

Pitfalls of Professionalism? Military Academies and Coup Risk

Military academies tend to be strongly linked to the professionalization of the armed forces. This explains why many countries in the world have created such institutions. The following article studies a potential negative externality stemming from military schools: increased coup risk. We argue that military academies may create, inculcate, and strengthen cohesive views that could conflict with incumbent policies, and that these schools establish networks among military officers that may facilitate coordination necessary for plotting a putsch. We also contend and empirically demonstrate that these negative side effects of military academies are in particular pronounced in nondemocracies, that is, military academies have diverse effects across regime types. This work has significant implications for our understanding civil–military relations. Furthermore, we contribute to the literature on military education and professionalization, as we suggest that military academies are important vehicles through which coups can emerge predominantly in authoritarian states

Friends or foes? migrants and sub-state nationalists in Europe

How do sub-state nationalists respond to the growing presence of cultural diversity in their ‘homelands’ resulting from migration? Sub-state nationalists in Europe, in ‘nations without states’ such as Catalonia and Scotland, have been challenging the traditional nation-state model for many decades. While the arguments in favour of autonomy or independence levelled by these movements have become more complex, sub-state nationalist movements remain grounded by their perceived national community that is distinct from the majority nation. Migration to the ‘homeland’ of a sub-state nation, then, presents a conundrum for sub-state elites that we label the ‘legitimation paradox’: too much internal diversity may undermine the claim to cultural distinctiveness. We engage with three common intervening variables thought to influence how sub-state nationalists confront the ‘legitimation paradox’: civic/ethnic nationalism, degree of political autonomy, and party competition. Our overarching argument is that none of these factors have a unidirectional or determinate effect on the sub-state nationalism-immigration nexus, which is why the nuanced case studies that comprise this Special Issue are worthwhile endeavours

Diaspora identification and long-distance nationalism among Tamil migrants of diverse state origins in the UK

Accounts of Tamil long-distance nationalism have focused on Sri Lankan Tamil migrants. But the UK is also home to Tamils of non-Sri Lankan state origins. While these migrants may be nominally incorporated into a 'Tamil diaspora', they are seldom present in scholarly accounts. Framed by Werbner's (2002) conception of diasporas as 'aesthetic' and 'moral' communities, this article explores whether engagement with a Tamil diaspora and long-distance nationalism is expressed by Tamil migrants of diverse state origins. While migrants identify with an aesthetic community, 'membership' of the moral community is contested between those who hold direct experience of suffering as central to belonging, and those who imagine the boundaries of belonging more fluidly - based upon primordial understandings of essential ethnicity and a narrative of Tamil 'victimhood' that incorporates experiences of being Tamil in Sri Lanka, India and in other sites, despite obvious differences in these experiences. © 2013 Taylor & Francis