Class and Caste in the 2019 Indian Election–Why Have So Many Poor Started Voting for Modi?

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Right ◽  
Employment Guarantee

In the 2009 and 2014 elections, the poorer the voters were, the less BJP-oriented they were too. The situation changed in 2019, when the prime minister appeared to be equally popular among all the strata of society, including the poor. Modi’s massive appeal to the poor is counterintuitive given the weakening of pro-poor policies like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the elitist character of BJP. If class has lost some of its relevance for explaining the results of the 2019 elections, caste is showing some resilience, not as aggregates in the garb of OBCs or SCs, but as jatis at the state level. In spite of the BJP’s claim that the party’s ideology was alien to any consideration which may divide the nation, its strategists have meticulously studied caste equations at the local level in order to select the right candidates. This caste-based strategy partly explains the above-mentioned class element as the small OBC and Dalit jatis that the BJP has wooed are often among the poorest—and upper caste poor vote more for BJP than their co-ethnic rich anyway.

State Capacity and Welfare Politics in India: Implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Undivided Andhra Pradesh

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Mukherji ◽  
Seyed Hossein Zarhani ◽  
K. Raju
Keyword(s):  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
The State ◽  
Mahatma Gandhi ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
Right To Work ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
The Right ◽  
Employment Guarantee ◽  
Employment Guarantee Scheme

This article argues that the Indian state can develop the capacity to deliver economic rights in a citizen-friendly way, despite serious challenges posed by patronage politics and clientelism. Clientelistic politics reveals why the Indian state fails to deliver the basic rights such as the right to work, health and education. We argue that the ability of the state to deliver owes a lot to bureaucratic puzzling and political powering over developmental ideas in a path-dependent way. We combine powering and puzzling within the state to argue the case for how these ideas tip after they have gained a fair amount of traction within the state. We test the powering and puzzling leading to a tipping point model on the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in undivided Andhra Pradesh (AP). How and why did undivided AP develop the capacity to make reach employment to the rural poor, when many other states failed to implement the right to work in India?

scholarly journals Governing India: Evolution of Programmatic Welfare in Andhra Pradesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Rahul Mukherji ◽  
Seyed Hossein Zarhani
Keyword(s):  
Andhra Pradesh ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
Rural Welfare ◽  
Patronage Politics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
The Right ◽  
Self Help Groups ◽  
Employment Guarantee

How can clientelistic politics be transformed into programmatic politics in a subnational state with a well-recorded history of patronage politics? We explore institutional pathways away from clientelism by systematically explicating clientelistic propensities with programmatic citizen-oriented ones in undivided Andhra Pradesh. This paper engages with a paradigm shift in policy from clientelistic to programmatic service delivery in rural development by exploring three major rural welfare programmes in undivided Andhra Pradesh: need-based redistribution, evolution of self-help groups and implementation of the right to work in India through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. We argue that the capacity of the state to deliver owes a great deal to bureaucratic puzzling and political powering over developmental ideas. We combine powering and puzzling within the state to argue the case for how these ideas tip after evolving in a path-dependent way.

Rights-Politics and the Politics of Rights in Neoliberal India

Social Change ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-321
Author(s):  
Aparna Gopalan
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Poor Laws ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Right ◽  
Neoliberal India ◽  
Employment Guarantee

In 1991, the Indian economy, was finally proclaimed liberalised from the control of the state; the market was now to be the sole engine of growth, development and poverty alleviation. But just over a decade later, a series of rights-based legislations––rights to food, work, information, education, and forests were seen as challenging the market’s dominance over an anti-poverty agenda and heralding the birth of India’s welfare state. These rights-based legislations have animated a growing field of social scientific inquiry which assesses the genesis and career of the different pro-poor laws that have passed since 2005. This paper reviews two recent contributions to that scholarship: Rob Jenkins and James Manor’s Politics and the Right to Work and Indrajit Roy’s Politics of the Poor, both of which are concerned with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). After contextualising the two books within an emerging legal activism and providing an in-depth discussion of their key concepts, arguments and methods, attention is paid to each author's explanation of the contradictions between India’s neoliberal economy and welfare state. In conclusion, the strengths and limitations of prevailing approaches studying India’s poverty alleviation programmes are discussed and it is suggested that a theoretical cross-fertilisation with neoliberalism studies could further reinvigorate and give shape to this promising literature.

scholarly journals THE PRACTICE OF PROVIDING TEMPORARY HOUSING INTERNALLY DISPLACED CITIZENS IN POST-CONFLICT TERRITORIES

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
A.O. Volkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Temporary Housing ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Right

The article analyzes the current practice of providing temporary housing to internally displaced persons in post-conflict areas. It is noted that during the six years of internal displacement at the state level, a number of regulations have been developed that have provided internally displaced persons with the opportunity to begin the process of integration into host communities. At the same time, the full integration of internally displaced persons is slowing down due to the impossibility of exercising the right to housing guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine. It is emphasized that the uncertainty of further housing prospects still remains one of the most pressing problems for the majority of internally displaced persons, the comprehensive solution of which requires effective cooperation between public authorities and local governments. It is noted that to date, at the state level, official information on the housing needs of internally displaced persons and the number of internally displaced persons who have been provided with housing with the support of the state or local governments is still lacking. It is noted that the state housing policy, in terms of providing internally displaced persons with housing, should be based on long-term, systematic and consistent solutions, through the introduction of targeted housing programs for internally displaced persons at both state and local levels. For those internally displaced persons who do not have the opportunity to purchase housing, effective and transparent mechanisms for providing temporary housing should be in place at the state level. Emphasis is placed on the fact that until 2017, due to the lack of sources to finance the formation of housing funds for temporary residence, as well as the lack of vacant and, most importantly, habitable housing, the above funds at the local level were practically not formed, but where they were created – were not replenished. Attention is drawn to the feasibility of assessing communal property and potential objects that can be purchased, reconstructed for the accommodation of internally displaced persons. In order to ensure the realization of the right to temporary housing for displaced professionals from among internally displaced persons, it is proposed to provide local governments with the opportunity to determine the percentage of housing that can be provided to displaced professionals in proportion to the local budget.

The Right to Education in India

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Matthey-Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Private Education ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Empowerment ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Potential System ◽  
Education In India ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Education Act ◽  
The Right

What does it mean for education to be a fundamental right, and how may children benefit from it? Surprisingly, even when the right to education was added to the Indian Constitution as Article 21A, this question received barely any attention. This book identifies justiciability (or, more broadly, enforceability) as the most important feature of Article 21A, meaning that children and their parents must be provided with means to effectively claim their right from the state. Otherwise, it would remain a ‘right’ only on paper. The book highlights how lack of access to the Indian judiciary means that the constitutional promise of justiciability is unfulfilled, particularly so because the poor, who cannot afford quality private education for their children, must be the main beneficiaries of the right. It then deals with possible alternative means the state may provide for the poor to claim the benefits under Article 21A, and identifies the grievance redress mechanism created by the Right to Education Act as a potential system of enforcement. Even though this system is found to be deficient, the book concludes with an optimistic outlook, hoping that rights advocates may, in the future, focus on improving such mechanisms for legal empowerment.

Response of Poverty Pockets to the Right-based Demand-driven MGNREGA Programme

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226612110055
Author(s):  
Sanjiv Kumar ◽  
S. Madheswaran ◽  
B. P. Vani
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implications ◽  
Capacity Limitations ◽  
Fund Allocation ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Selection Approach ◽  
Poverty Elimination ◽  
The Right ◽  
Employment Guarantee

Forerunning programmes of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which were designed as poverty elimination programmes, took notice of geographical pockets of poverty and incorporated formula-based fund allocation mechanisms to poorer states and regions. The MGNREGA programme, in contrast, used a right-based ‘self-selection’ approach— relying on the initiative of households’ demand-driven strengths—to allocate need-based resources to states and regions within states. This article examines how well the demand-driven, right-based programme with self-selection allocated resources to states and regions according to their respective needs, and to what extent the benefits reached the poverty pockets and catered to the poorest, weakest and neediest households. We find that adequate resources did not reach the poorest states and regions, substantial numbers of poor households remained outside the programme or were deemed underserved, and there was a pronounced programme capture by elite states. The article explores causes and consequences of capacity limitations and low absorption pulls among states, and points to policy implications and ways forward.

Building Italianità in Northern Adriatic: The case of organized migration of population from Pola/Pula

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 992-1007
Author(s):  
Miha Kosmač
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Border Areas ◽  
Complex Activities

The article analyzes the process of buildingitalianitàin the case of migration of population from Pola/Pula that started as early as May 1945 and culminated in an organized process that officially began on 23 January 1947 and lasted until 20 March that same year. The article sheds light on the premises of that identity by analyzing complex activities of the Italian authorities who wanted to “defend Italianism” in Pola/Pula, as well as in other border areas of former Venezia Giulia. At the state level, they were mainly carried out by the Office for the Julian March/Ufficio per la Venezia Giuliaand following reorganization beginning at the end of 1946 by the Office for Border Areas/Ufficio per le Zone di Confine, and at the local level by a network of pro-Italian organizations and groups. Analysis contributes to the understanding of the top-down and bottom-upitalianitàbuilding process. On the local level, common identity was built upon the myth of thepatria, reiteration of traumatic/“wounded” memories and victim presentation of the “Italian” population, fear to be separated from thepatria, and unjust peace treaty propaganda. Simultaneously, the “Italian” population understood the Italian state as their defender.

Pregnancies and Pregnancy Desires at the State Level: Estimates for 2017 and Trends Since 2012

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Kost ◽  
◽  
Isaac Maddow-Zimet ◽  
Ashley C. Little
Keyword(s):  
Pregnancy Rate ◽  
Unwanted Pregnancy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Clear Pattern ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All

Key Points In almost all U.S. states, pregnancies reported as occurring at the right time or being wanted sooner than they occurred comprised the largest share of pregnancies in 2017, though proportions varied widely by state. The proportion of pregnancies that were wanted later or unwanted was higher in the South and Northeast than in other regions, and the proportion of pregnancies that occurred at the right time or were wanted sooner was higher in the West and Midwest. From 2012 to 2017, the wanted-later-or-unwanted pregnancy rate fell in the majority of states. However, no clear pattern emerged for any changes in the rate of pregnancies that were reported as wanted then or sooner or in the rate of those for which individuals expressed uncertainty.

Other types of secondary legislation immediately place legal obligations directly into the legal system of all Member States. These are binding in their entirety and said to be directly applicable. Still other types place legal obligations directly upon certain named States, individuals and organisations. (4) The treaties, regulations and directives enacted by the Union do not directly state that they give individuals rights that they can enforce in their national courts. These legal rules are addressed in the first place to the Union and the Member State. Yet under the founding treaties Member States are expected to enforce the rights, liabilities and powers that are a consequence of membership in national courts. The ECJ has developed the concept of direct effect which describes EC primary or secondary law that give individuals rights that are enforceable in their national courts. Set criteria have to be present. Direct effect is easier to prove in relation to regulations than it is in relation to articles and directives. The criteria demand that: • the rule does not require any action from the State (and directives do); and • that the right to be enforced is clear and precise and can be activated without recourse to the State (which is not the automatic case in relation to articles in a treaty concluded at State level or a directive issued to the State demanding certain outcomes within a timescale). However, articles and directives considered on a case by case basis by the European and national courts have been held to give individuals rights. The case of Van Gend en Loos discussed later in this chapter deals with direct applicability and direct effect of articles. (5) A major difficulty is caused by the lack of uniformity of terms in relation to ‘directly applicable’ and ‘direct effect’. ‘Directly applicable’ is the phrase used in Article 249 (formerly 189) of the EC Treaty to refer to the process by which Community law of certain types is immediately and automatically part of the legal system of Member States as soon as it is created in the EC. ‘Direct effect’, which is not a phrase occurring in any of the treaties, is the phrase consistently used in the ECJ in two senses to refer to: • the process by which individuals acquire rights they can enforce in national courts (against other individuals—horizontal direct effect, and against the State itself—vertical direct effect); and • the process by which EC law is immediately and automatically part of the legal system of Member States as soon as it is created in the EC. This is confusing, especially as some Community law that is created by Article 249 (formerly 177) of the EC Treaty is not said in the Treaty to be directly applicable in the sense of immediately and automatically becoming part of the legal system of Member States. Yet the ECJ has held that such law can, if certain criteria are present, have direct effect. In fact, they have gone one step further and constructed the concept of indirect effect. It is indirect precisely because the law is not directly applicable but somehow an individual can enforce it in a national court.

2012 ◽  
pp. 157-157
Keyword(s):  
Direct Effect ◽  
Legal System ◽  
National Court ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Law ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
The Right

Sodium menu labelling: priorities for research and policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Eleanore Alexander ◽  
Lainie Rutkow ◽  
Kimberly A Gudzune ◽  
Joanna E Cohen ◽  
Emma E McGinty
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Legal Databases ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Research And Policy

Abstract Objective: To understand the different Na menu labelling approaches that have been considered by state and local policymakers in the USA and to summarise the evidence on the relationship between Na menu labelling and Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers. Design: Proposed and enacted Na menu labelling laws at the state and local levels were reviewed using legal databases and an online search, and a narrative review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted on the relationship between Na menu labelling and Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers. Setting: Local and state jurisdictions in the USA Participants: Not applicable. Results: Between 2000 and 2020, thirty-eight laws – eleven at the local level and twenty-seven at the state level – were proposed to require Na labelling of restaurant menu items. By 2020, eight laws were enacted requiring chain restaurants to label the Na content of menu items. Five studies were identified that evaluated the impact of Na menu labelling on Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers in the USA. The studies had mixed results: two studies showed a statistically significant association between Na menu labelling and reduced Na content of menu items; three showed no effects. Conclusion: Data suggest that Na menu labelling may reduce Na in restaurant menu items, but further rigorous research evaluating Na menu labelling effects on Na content of menu items, as well as on the Na content in menu items purchased by consumers, is needed.

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