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Tag Search: “democracy”

A proposal for public funding of elections and political parties in India

The Finance Minister of India recently introduced measures aimed at cleaning up political party funding in the country. In this article, Gowda and Santhosh highlight the limitations of these measures,...

  • Perspectives

Consumption spikes and election delays

There is ample anecdotal evidence on political parties bribing voters with cash or consumption goods prior to elections, in India and other developing countries. However, there is an expected lack of ...

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Do Gram Panchayat leaders favour their own constituencies in MNREGA fund allocation?

Political incentives are known to play a role in the allocation of public resources from upper- to lower-tier governments. This column seeks to examine whether ruling parties in local governments favo...

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Politician's pain is poor man's gain: Income distribution in close-election constituencies

Studies have highlighted the role of electoral competition in directing the flow of public funds. Analysing data from India, this column finds lower income inequality and polarisation in tightly conte...

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Courting women's votes: What does this mean for women?

In the recent state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, political parties targeted women voters with specific handouts and proposed policies such as alcohol bans. This column contends that while the in...

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Does democracy cause growth?

Many analysts view democracy as a neutral or negative factor for growth. This column discusses new evidence showing that democracy has a robust and sizeable pro-growth effect. It finds that a country ...

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Impact of Electronic Voting Machines on electoral frauds, democracy, and development

In an attempt to curb electoral malpractices, Electronic Voting Machines were introduced on a national scale by the Election Commission of India in the 1990s. Using data from state assembly elections ...

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Criminally accused politicians and economic outcomes

Despite a history of widely contested and transparent elections, and presence of vibrant and open media, an increasing number of criminally accused politicians are being elected in India. Based on an...

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Tolerance and respect for economic progress

In his recent speech at IIT Delhi, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan contends that ideas are the key to economic growth. The two essentials to keep the ideas factory open are to foster competition in the m...

  • Perspectives

Democracy, inclusion, and prosperity

In his speech at the D.D. Kosambi Ideas Festival in February 2015 in Goa, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan put on his hat as a professor of political economy and spoke about the development of a liberal m...

  • Perspectives

Bihar verdict: Development, cow politics, and caste

The Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress defeated the Modi-led NDA in the recent Bihar assembly elections. In this article, Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics at the London Sch...

  • Perspectives

Role model effects? Women's political participation in India

Women’s political candidacy in India is very low and appears to be an important barrier to their representation in government. Does a deficiency of female role models hold back women’s candidacy? Ana...

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