The Three Faces of the Indian State

Bibliographic Data

ID6288632
AuthorsMadhav Khosla (0000-0002-5926-1390), Milan Vaishnav (0000-0002-7696-125X)
Year2021
Volume32
Issue1
Pages111-125
Publication date2021-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of democracy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jod.2021.0004
OpenAlexW3121534138
LanguageEN
Citations received18

For more than seven decades, India's Constitution has provided a framework for liberal democracy to flourish in one of the world's most diverse societies. Legal changes and shifts in bureaucratic practices, however, have undermined central tenets of the prevailing order. In today's India, the assent of the people is both necessary and sufficient to justify all forms of state action. This article outlines three manifestations of India's new constitutionalism—the "ethnic state," the "absolute state," and the "opaque state." These distinct, yet overlapping faces of the Indian state have undermined the rule of law, equal citizenship, checks and balances, and democratic accountability

Accountability · Bureaucracy · Citizenship · Constitution · Constitution of India · Constitutionalism · Democracy · Economics · Law and economics · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rule of law · Sociology · State (computer science · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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