The Spectral Presence of Business in India’s 2019 Election

Bibliographic Data

ID6170814
AuthorsA Sinha (0000-0002-7767-7322, Claremont McKenna College, corresponding author), Andrew Wyatt (University of Bristol)
Year2019
Volume7
Issue2
Pages247-261
Publication date2019-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Indian Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2321-0230 • E-ISSN: 2321-7472
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/2321023019874914
OpenAlexW2976161833
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited25

Shifts in the balance of India’s economy towards private production have re-opened a debate over the role of the business in its polity. Business interests have found new ways to influence the state at different levels and through multiple institutions. This article concentrates on the composition of the 17th Lok Sabha and its porosity towards business (around 28.4% of these MPs have self-reported business careers). A growing of number of ‘industrialists’ and entrepreneurs have branched out into a legislative career; they complement a fast-emerging group of entrepreneurial politicians, who already use their legislative and institutional location to develop business interests for themselves and their families. We find that the influence and power of business has become diffuse and central at the same time; it seeped into every aspect of the election campaign and voting process: political recruitment, finance, issues, and policies—in tangible and intangible ways. This spectral presence of business is shaping Indian elections, parties, and democracy and in turn consolidating India’s economic reforms and pro-business polity

Democracy · Economics · Entrepreneurship · Legislature · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Power (physics · State (computer science · Voting · Indian Economic and Social Development · Law · Social and Economic Development in India · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Finance

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