Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India

370 Pages·2004·3.903 MB·English

by  Kanchan Chandra

KANCHAN CHANDRA
C
H
Kanchan Chandra is an Assistant Why do some ethnic parties succeed in
A
Professor in the Department of attracting the support of their target eth-
N
Political Science at MIT. She is nic group while other fail? In a world
D
the recipient of fellowships from in which ethnic parties flourish in both
R
the SSRC-Macarthur Foundation Quotes to come established and emerging democracies
A
in International Peace and Security, alike, understanding the conditions
the Harvard Academy for under which such parties rise and fall is
International and Area Studies, and of critical importance to both political
W
the Center for Advanced Studies in scientists and policy makers. Drawing
H
the Behavioral Sciences at on a study of variation in the perfor-
Stanford University. Y mance of ethnic parties in India, this
book builds a theory of ethnic party per-
E
formance in “patronage democracies”.
T
Chandra shows why inidividual voters
H
and political entrepreneurs in such
N
democracies condition their strategies
I
C not on party ideologies or policy plat-
forms, but on a headcount of co-ethnics

P
and others across party personnel and
A
among the electorate. Building on these
R
individual microfoundations, she argues
T
that an ethnic party is most likely to
I
E succeed when the size of the ethnic
S groups it seeks to mobilize exceeds the

S threshold of winning or leverage
U imposed by the electoral system and has
C competitive rules for intra-party
WHY ETHNIC PARTIES SUCCEED
C advancement.
E
E
D Patronage and Ethnic Headcounts in India
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN
COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Why Ethnic Parties Succeed
Why do some ethnic parties succeed in attracting the support of their target
ethnicgroupswhileothersfail?Inaworldinwhichethnicpartiesflourishines-
tablishedandemergingdemocraciesalike,understandingtheconditionsunder
whichsuchpartiessucceedorfailisofcriticalimportancetobothpoliticalsci-
entistsandpolicymakers.Drawingonastudyofvariationintheperformance
ofethnicpartiesinIndia,thisbookbuildsatheoryofethnicpartyperformance
in “patronage-democracies.” Chandra shows why voters in such democracies
choosebetweenpartiesbyconductingethnicheadcountsratherthanbycom-
paring policy platforms or ideological positions. Building on these individual
microfoundations,shearguesthatanethnicpartyislikelytosucceedwhenit
hascompetitiverulesforintrapartyadvancementandwhenthesizeofthegroup
itseekstomobilizeexceedsthethresholdofwinningorleverageimposedby
theelectoralsystem.
Kanchan Chandra is an assistant professor in the Department of Political
ScienceatMIT.

Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
GeneralEditor
MargaretLevi UniversityofWashington,Seattle
AssistantGeneralEditor
StephenHanson UniversityofWashington,Seattle
AssociateEditors
RobertH.Bates HarvardUniversity
PeterHall HarvardUniversity
PeterLange DukeUniversity
HelenMilner ColumbiaUniversity
FrancesRosenbluth YaleUniversity
SusanStokes UniversityofChicago
SidneyTarrow CornellUniversity
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Why Ethnic Parties Succeed
PATRONAGE AND ETHNIC
HEAD COUNTS IN INDIA
KANCHAN CHANDRA
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
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Firstpublished2004
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Chandra,Kanchan,1971–
Whyethnicpartiessucceed:patronageandethnicheadcountsinIndia/KanchanChandra.
p. cm.–(Cambridgestudiesincomparativepolitics)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-521-81452-9
1.Politicalparties–India. 2.Minorities–India–Politicalactivity. 3.India–Ethnic
relations–Politicalaspects. 4.Patronage,Political–India. I.Title. II.Series.
JQ298.A1C43 2004
306.2(cid:3)6(cid:3)0954–dc21 2003048458
ISBN0521814529hardback
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