Is India’s Democracy Dying?: Milan Vaishnav for Opinion Has It

Milan Vaishnav considers whether the world’s largest democracy can survive Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Say More]( In this week's Say More newsletter, we present the newest episode of our podcast, Opinion Has It. Every other week in Opinion Has It, host Elmira Bayrasli is joined by a leading expert to examine a critical and timely issue. [Milan Vaishnav]( In this episode, Elmira talks with Milan Vaishnav, Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about the threat Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses to Indian democracy. Listen now on [PS]( [Apple]( [Google]( [Soundcloud]( or [Spotify](. [PS Topics: Democracy and Its Enemies]( Is India’s Democracy Dying? Elmira Bayrasli: When India established its democracy in 1950, the odds were stacked against it. The country had achieved independence just three years earlier, after over a century under British colonial rule. Archive Recording: On August 15, 1947, the great symbol of the British empire came down for the last time, to be replaced by the banner of a new Indian government. Archive Recording: Tumultuous crowds filled the streets, celebrating, singing, and laughing. Police were called out many times to restore order where everyone ran wild with joy. EB: India had a massive and diverse population. Poverty was widespread. Many adults were illiterate. Yet over the last 71 years, the world’s largest democracy has thrived. It has held free election after free election. Archive Recording: It’s the world’s biggest exercise in democracy. Archive Recording: The numbers are huge. The challenges considerable. And the issues at stake immense. Archive Recording: Some 815 million Indians are eligible to vote at almost a million polling stations scattered across the country. Archive Recording: More than 11 million election officials and security forces are being mobilized around the country by boats, rail, roads, and even elephants. EB: Per capita income has risen steadily; the literacy rate has quadrupled; and a strong middle class has merged. Archive Recording: Now, India is on course to overtake China as the fastest growing economy in the world. The rapid economic growth has investors taking note, of course, and with a large population of young people ready to work, the future seems extremely bright for the world’s second most populous nation. EB: But cracks in India’s democratic foundations have recently started to show. That’s thanks in large part to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Is India’s multicultural democracy at risk of crumbling? Hi, Milan. Milan Vaishnav: Hi, how are you? EB: Good. How are you? Here to help us answer this question is Milan Vaishnav. MV: I’m well, thank you. EB: Milan is the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of [When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics](. He joins us from Washington, DC. Milan, I want to start by looking at India’s transition to democracy after independence. At the time, many were skeptical that it was even possible. What conditions made it unlikely and even unprecedented? MV: I think that’s exactly right, and I would just say that the skepticism was shared by Indians themselves. It wasn’t just British colonizers who... Listen now on [PS]( [Apple]( [Google]( [Soundcloud]( or [Spotify](. [Read the podcast transcript]( Previously in Opinion Has It [Russia’s Not So Strongman]( [Russia’s Not So Strongman]( with [Timothy Frye]( Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University Popular protests and a tanking economy seem to be weakening President Vladimir Putin’s position, if not threatening his grip on power. Yet Russia’s strongman leader will not go down without a fight. Listen now on [PS]( [Apple]( [Google]( [Soundcloud]( or [Spotify](. Or [read the transcript](. [Special-Edition Magazine: Back to Health ]( Previously in Opinion Has It: Special Edition [Will COVID-19 Bring Europe “Ever Closer”?]( [Will COVID-19 Bring Europe “Ever Closer”?]( with [Niels Thygesen]( an emeritus professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen and Chairman of the European Fiscal Board, interviewed by PS Managing Editor [Jonathan Stein]( While critics say that the European Union has stumbled from crisis to crisis for most of its existence, its defenders counter that crises have made it both stronger and more necessary over time. As the bloc’s complex history and current challenges show, both claims are true. Listen now on [PS]( [Apple]( [Google]( [Soundcloud]( or [Spotify](. Or [read the transcript](. [Check out the Opinion Has It archive]( Previously in Say More [An Interview with William A. Haseltine]( [An Interview with William A. Haseltine]( [William A. Haseltine]( – Chair and President of the global health think tank ACCESS Health International – highlights promising COVID-19 treatments, touts the potential of mRNA vaccines, and weighs in on where HIV/AIDS research is heading. [Read now](. [Check out the Say More archive]( [PS. The latest on politics for less than $9 a month.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.