Paper short abstract:

Such a foregrounding of democracy's limitation becomes crucial at a time when "majority" and "morality" are evidently no longer interchangeable. And yet, the reverence for the logic of democracy per se remains intact.

Paper long abstract:

There is a need for making sense of the choice that India has made democratically, especially for those despairing at the election result. The despair, I contend, is the more intense of the two primary emotions; for this segment of population, voting for a party had less relevance than voting against one. With the coming to power of the BJP, the one party this segment had voted against, going beyond the results and critically analysing the developments becomes essential to resist the political culture that Modi and his party epitomises.

Limitations of Democracy

Despite feelings of fear and despair, my contention is that this election result has made possible a critical inroad into engaging with democracy; not with the technicalities of the democratic process, but rather with its substance and, more significantly, with its limitations. Most exchanges and expressions on social networking sites seem to suggest that, for people who felt let down by the result, "democracy has failed". The general belief is that democracy gets seriously undermined if elections have not been conducted by fair means. And when the party one supports wins, one believes that democracy has won.

Paper short abstract:

Taking Arend Lijphart's binary typology of democracies this paper deals with the question if India follows the Westminster or consensus model of democracy. The answer to this question does not depend solely on the institutional set-up, but also on the prevailing political constellation.

Paper long abstract:

Due to the many colonial legacies India inherited from the British her

political system is generally considered as belonging to the Westminster

(majoritarian) model of democracy, i.e. the British form of responsive

parliamentary government showing all the essential features of majority rule

with a dominant cabinet dependent on the confidence of Parliament.

This view is challenged by Arend Lijphart who characterises the Indian

system as a perfect example of what he calls the consociational (or

consensual/consensus) model of democracy. While the essence of the

Westminster model is majority rule the consensus model of government

follows the principle of "as many people as possible" and is perfectly

suited to deeply divided society like India. Generally speaking the

Westminster system of government is best suited for homogeneous societies

while consensus democracy is an appropriate form of government in

heterogeneous societies.

One parliamentary democracy, but two opposite interpretations. Is India an

"interesting anomaly" of the Westminster model, or "an impressive confirming

case" for consociational interpretation of the Indian democracy showing all

its essential features like grand coalition government, cultural autonomy,

proportional representation and monority veto?

The answer to this question does not depend solely on the ways and means in

which the two models have institutionalised their decision-making

procedures, but also, and often predominantly, on the prevailing political

constellation and the behaviour of the dominant political actors within the

given polity.

Paper short abstract:

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse role of regional political parties in Indian party system and their influence on Indian democracy. Time period: 2013-2015.

Paper long abstract:

Indian party system went through enormous change from dominant party system to multiparty system. The evolution of the party system since India's independence can be divided into four stages: 1947-1967 - domination of Indian National Congress (INC); 1967-1989 - consolidation of the opposition and the emergence of a multi-party system; 1989-1998 - a time of change, 1998-nowadays- formation of the coalition system. In last parliamentary elections which were held in 2014, Bharatiya Janata Party (B JP) has won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties (first time since 1984). INC was badly defeated (only 44 seats). Two of regional parties: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK, from Tamil Nadu, 37 seats) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC, from West Bengal, 34 seats), became third and fourth party in the lower house of parliament. How it is influencing party system of India? How important for Indian democracy is the phenomenon of rising influence of regional parties? Can regional parties can influence on the quality of Indian democracy? In my paper I will try to answer above questions and I will propose most possible scenarios for the future.

Paper short abstract:

While global educational policies have addressed inclusive education for the past decades, most countries in the South Asia region, until today, face severe difficulties in implementation. It is our core hypothesis that these shortcomings are strongly linked to severe shortcomings in governance.

Paper long abstract:

The past decades have witnessed a series of global educational policies, that address inclusive education. While the Education for All (EFA) initiative in 1990 had set important goals, most of these could not be reached within the stipulated timeframe of 10 years. In 2000, the consorted effort of the UN and several development partners in form of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) again addressed the need for universal primary education, by 2015. Yet, again most countries in the South Asian region, other than Sri Lanka, have more or less severely failed this target.

When trying to understand why this basic goal is so difficult to be achieved, (mal-)governance needs to be attributed a major role. Following Bevir's ideas of governance, we would thus argue that it not only refers to the government, but also includes many other policy makers and service providers, such as international development partners, NGOs, as well as many local-level agents. Assessing short comings in governance also (re-)assesses several of the legal and institutional reform processes in the region, including the Right to Education Act in India and Sri Lanka.

Paper short abstract:

CPEC is heralded as a game changer for Pakistan's economy. But such a project raises questions regarding security situation. To guarantee a safe environment for CPEC, the army is increasingly absorbing formal power. This development has negative impacts on civilian control and democratic transition.

Paper long abstract:

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar infrastructure investment project, is heralded as a game changer for Pakistan's economy. Being part of a major development initiative led by China, known as 'One Belt, One Road', connecting Asia with Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the CPEC has evoked hopes, interests, and spurred geopolitics. However, such a megaproject raises numerous questions, especially regarding the feasibility of its implementation in view of tremendous security challenges. In order to guarantee a secure environment for the CPEC development, the military is increasingly absorbing formal power. This phenomenon significantly impacts the country's civil-military relations and civilian control challenging the process of democratic transition. In order to assess the correlation between CPEC development and quality of democracy, the paper applies the 'Heidelberg Model of Civilian Control' in order to analyse the influence of the military on the decision-making and implementation process vis-à-vis the civilians, understood as the elected representatives of the people. It will be argued that: First, the way that the CPEC is being implemented limits the decision-making power of civilians and makes civilian control over the military more unlikely. Second, since civilian control of the military is interpreted as a prerequisite for democracy, the CPEC development is undermining the latest attempt of democratic transition initiated by the 2013 general elections. Third, to ensure the CPEC development, the military has built-up a parallel governance structure, legally exercising tremendous executive and judicial powers, side-lining the civilian government.

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Paper short abstract:

This paper attempts to explain the reproduction of autocratic and undemocratic modes of politics in urban Pakistan despite the deepening of practices assocated with procedural democracy

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the emergence and entrenchment of the bazaar bourgeoisie and its influence on political and social inequality in contemporary Pakistan. The principle argument presented is that the gradual opening up of institutional spaces for representation and contestation have not allowed for the emergence of a truly democratic politics structured along class lines, except for a brief period in the late 60s and early 70s. Politics is still largely autocratic, controlled by vertical patron-client linkages, and political parties exhibit elite characteristics in terms of policy preferences and candidate recruitment. Nonetheless, this autocratic political project has been successful in generating 'consent' from below.

This is where the role of an emergent bazaar middle class (also labelled as the intermediate class in other South Asian contexts) - one that has grown under an era of economic restructuring and liberalization - is crucial. As intermediaries and brokers, often exercising collective influence in the political, economic, and cultural realm through bazaar and mosque associations, they help in the implementation and management of elite hegemony, and curtail possibilities of mobilization amongst the popular classes. This phenomenon has also been witnessed and studied in other contexts such as India, Turkey, and Argentina.

The research is based on 8 months of fieldwork, involving interviews, observations, and news documentation in urban Punjab - the most populated and politically important province in Pakistan.

Paper short abstract:

Based on a set of interviews with bureaucrats, political leaders, media personnel, functionaries in the development sector, and the civil society activists, this paper examines some of the salient features of the nascent democracy in Bhutan.

Paper long abstract:

Unlike other countries in South Asia, democracy in Bhutan is generally taken to be a gift from the benevolent monarchy. Interestingly, democracy in Bhutan did not emerge as a political response to the popular demands, something that have made other democracies in South Asia much more contentious, coarser and occasionally (some would say persistently) violent. Based on a set of interviews with bureaucrats, political leaders, media personnel, functionaries in the development sector, and the civil society activists, this paper examines some of the salient features of the nascent democracy in Bhutan.This paper argues that the anxieties and fears emanating out of a hasty and uncontrolled process of democratization is at the centre of democratic experiment in Bhutan. In this sense, much of political and institutional energy in Bhutan is expended on regulating, controlling, managing and calibrating Bhutan's 'pre-ordained' shift to democracy lest the sudden flurry of unregulated political activities and the unleashing of unaided democratic forces overwhelm this geo-strategically fragile nation. This national preoccupation with the disruptive and conflict-laden view of democracy has largely led to a situation where each and every step towards democratic transition appears to be institutionally calibrated. To put it provocatively, more than political parties, it is the Election Commission (and similar other constitutional bodies in Bhutan) that seems to have taken upon itself the mid-wifely role for the ultimate delivery of a healthy and full-blown democracy to Bhutanese people.

Paper short abstract:

The paper contributes to the understanding Trans-Himalayan Cooperation. Attitudes are identified with two strategies (S.). A centralized S. focused on diplomatic negotiation on infrastructures and/or a decentralized S. based on sectoral proximity connections that promotes regional development.

Paper long abstract:

The Himalayas are between the two most prominent economic spaces of the XXI century, India and China. Since ever this natural barrier between rich territories and remarkable civilizations, fed them with water and soil, filtered the passage for silk and spices, and - with the active testimony of local settlers - contributed to the humans' communication or muteness among themselves and between themselves and the Sky. The Himalayas are the wall that permits the door, the barrier that requires the link while providing the opportunity for alternative passages through the sea and the air; they can also be the bases of mountain centralities testified by cities like Lhasa or countries like Nepal. Somehow these mountains guarantee the identity of civilizations moulded by the relations to the otherness.

Since ever those places and passages were shaped by nature, marginally managed by nearby settlers and remote civilizations. Nevertheless, globalization and technology are changing the capacity of those nearby and remote decisions makers, and necessarily their thoughts over those passages and places. What are the main attitudes and values on Trans-Himalayan Cooperation? What are the common values and attitudes that can be the bases for effective cooperation and sustained development?

The aim of the paper is to understand what will be the attitudes and values on Trans-Himalayan Cooperation and to undertake an analysis to assess the main attitudes regarding cooperation and to identify the main common attitudes and values that can guide effective cooperation.