Why the Poor Vote in India: “If I Don’t Vote, I Am Dead to the State”

Ahuja, Amit; Chhibber, Pradeep

doi:10.1007/s12116-012-9115-6

Cited by 70 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The non‐poor therefore vote to access opportunities, but also because of a sense of civic duty: voting is something that all good citizens should do. Ahuja and Chibber's () analysis differs from previous work in that it moves away from a singular explanation and presents different motivations for different social groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…For example, while some approve of “one rupee rice”, others—especially Gounder landlords—criticise it for making workers lazy and reducing the supply of labour. Assessments of policies thus vary and depend on one's class position (Ahuja and Chibber ), but it is the delivery of specific party programmes—and especially universal welfare schemes—that is central to how people across classes judge government performance and gauge future impacts of party manifestoes.…”

Section: Why Do People Vote?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By stating that if they do not vote they do not have an identity, villagers reflect on their civic identity as citizens of the Indian nation. Or, as Ahuja and Chibber (:4) put it, “the act of voting recognizes the poor as citizens in the eyes of the state and those who run it”. This transpires most emphatically from emotive outbursts that if one does not vote, one does not exist—in a political sense at least—as a citizen of India.…”

Section: Why Do People Vote?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others again recognise that not everyone votes for the same reason or attaches the same values and meanings to electoral participation. In a recent multi‐state study, Ahuja and Chibber () explore variations in motivations for voting in India between the poor and the non‐poor. They argue that while the poor see voting as a right, the non‐poor vote either to gain some benefit or because they see it as a duty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Why Indians Vote: Reflections on Rights, Citizenship, and Democracy from a Tamil Nadu Village

Carswell

Neve

2014

Antipode

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper contributes to an empirical and theoretical understanding of democracy and political participation in India through an ethnographic study of the meanings attached to voting in rural Tamil Nadu. Based on a study of voting in a rural constituency during the 2009 national elections, the paper explores the variety of motivations that compel people to vote. It explores how voting is informed by popular understandings of rights and duties as citizens, programmatic policies and their local implementation, commitment to caste and party loyalties, and authority of charismatic leaders. The paper explores the roots of the political consciousness and rights awareness that underpin high levels of electoral participation. It suggests that elections form unique moments that allow ordinary people to experience an individual sense of citizenship and of democracy itself while at the same time allowing them to pursue projects of recognition, respect and assertion as members of communities. It is precisely this dual feature that makes voting so enduringly attractive to India's contemporary electorate.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Why Do People Vote?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Do People Vote?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Why Indians Vote: Reflections on Rights, Citizenship, and Democracy from a Tamil Nadu Village

Carswell

Neve

2014

Antipode

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the last two decades, we have also witnessed an intense debate on the merits of political participation, and an increasing number of empirical studies on participation in India (Ahuja & Chhibber, 2012;Harriss, 2005;Kumar, 2009). However, for its theoretical definitions of political participation and democracy, this article draws upon the classical studies of Robert Dahl and Sidney Verba. According to Dahl, five criteria have to be met in order to attain the ideal type of democracy: effective participation, equality in voting, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda, and inclusiveness (Dahl, 2000, p. 38).…”

Section: Political Protests and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Popular Struggle against Coca-Cola in Plachimada, Kerala

Berglund

Helander

2015

Journal of Developing Societies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article is a case study of the campaign against the Coca-Cola Company in Plachimada, Kerala, India, which was a reaction against alleged environmental damages and water depletion caused by the company's production of soft drinks. It addresses the following questions: How was civil society used as a platform for this struggle and what was the outcome? Did this campaign affect the political participation of its members? The study is based on interviews and surveys of the villagers in Plachimada and connects to theories on social movements and political participation, as well as to the debate on Indian civil society. The findings presentedshow the importance of having a local, core group in charge of the campaign, while simultaneously making use of existing support groups at the regional, national, and international levels. It also reveals that after reaching its goal, the campaign has resulted in a general increase of political participation amongst its members.

show abstract

Social conflict on the front lines of reform: Institutional activism and girls' education in rural India

Mangla

2021

Public Admin & Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How do states realize social reforms for marginalized groups in settings of entrenched inequality? This article argues that reform implementation is a conflictridden process driven by the institutional activism of street-level bureaucrats.Through an ethnographic case study of Mahila Samakhya, a novel government program for women's empowerment in Uttar Pradesh, India, I find that local fieldworkers committed to reform promoted girls' education by mobilizing marginalized citizens and mediating local conflicts. Organizational processes of gender-based training and deliberation enabled fieldworkers to challenge village patriarchy and exclusion and forge programmatic ties with lower caste women. By altering rules to address the practical needs of households, fieldworkers effectively integrated disadvantaged girls into the education system. Institutional activism also engendered conflicts over rules within the bureaucracy, prompting senior officials to advocate for marginalized groups. The findings suggest that institutional commitment to activism is critical for agencies working on the front lines of reform.

show abstract

Why the Poor Vote in India: “If I Don’t Vote, I Am Dead to the State”

Cited by 70 publications

References 23 publications

Why Indians Vote: Reflections on Rights, Citizenship, and Democracy from a Tamil Nadu Village

Why Indians Vote: Reflections on Rights, Citizenship, and Democracy from a Tamil Nadu Village

The Popular Struggle against Coca-Cola in Plachimada, Kerala

Social conflict on the front lines of reform: Institutional activism and girls' education in rural India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About