In the myriad global challenges today, India seemingly stands out as a beacon of democratic resilience. Despite initial doubts about its feasibility given the country’s vast size and complexity, India has successfully maintained its democracy (except during the Emergency from 1975 to 1977). Mody’s new book delivers a sobering critique. Beneath the veneer of procedural democracy, he argues, there has been a steady erosion of political norms and loss of commitment to fairness and equity.
Mody organizes his critique into four chronological sections to examine the symptoms and underlying causes of India’s democratic decline. Blending economic analysis with nuanced historical context, he sheds light on the causes and consequences of the downturn in Indian democracy to challenge official government reports on development. With references to Hindi cinema and contemporary news coverage, he grounds his analysis in tangible events and culture, dispelling the “data fog” of questionable statistics employed by the...