Welfare/Redistributive Politics: Insights into Comparative Politics and Economic Development in India

Abstract

Why does a state like Kerala’s development measures match with that of the OECD countries, but states like UP and Bihar from the same country perform poorly in various developmental indices? It clearly shows that the diversity and variations that India possesses in the cultural realm is analogous with the differences in the welfare and developmental performances of each Indian state. It is natural to reach a conclusion for the above if one decides to go by the stipulation that in a federal system, state governments have the autonomy to decide on the policy practices and welfare and development initiatives. But the argument remains scanty. While having a unitary system in place, why different states perform differently in development indices is a question that evokes multiple parameters to be analysed. Though it might appear as a developmental question, political ideology is an important indicator that determines the nature of redistributive politics in India. Moreover history, social structures including the dynamics of caste politics and power, the degree of regionalism expressed in terms of sub nationalism, nature of leadership in the state, political and economic interference of the propertied class and their bargaining power etc. decides the level of welfare politics and differential achievements across the country. The paper thus analyses these indicators in detail with examples of Indian states through the theoretical framework of comparative politics. The paper also examines the policy impacts and implications of the same with a reference to the current political context and future prospects as well.