SN2213 GOVERNANCE AND POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA

MODULE OUTLINE

The module focuses on governance and political processes in South Asia. It throws light on
institutions, political practices, parties, identities, trajectories of social transformation and state-
society relations. It examines in some depth the nation-building and democratization challenges
faced by different countries of the region. It also focuses on the changing interaction between
citizen, ethnic groups, classes and the political processes in South Asia. Using a comparative
framework, the module focuses on similarities as well as differences among the political systems
in the region. The module will enable the students to think creatively about the region’s political
architecture and culture, and empirically analyze different facets of governance in South
Asia. The course will cover Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

 To learn about the region’s complexities and assess how they impact on governance
 To understand the nuances of political continuity and change
 To comprehend and analyse different approaches adopted by different states in the region
towards democratic and nation-building challenges

SYLLABUS

Lecture Topics and Readings:

1. Introducing South Asia

This lecture will introduce South Asia to students. South Asian countries are connected by
history, culture and civilizational memories. But the region has also witnessed many instances of
conflict and violence. Although many of them became independent after decolonization, their
trajectories of development, democracy- and nation-building remain divergent. This lecture will
highlight the distinctive features of the region from a comparative perspective. It will also
discuss the broad outline of the course and discuss what we would achieve as a part of this
collective endeavor.

For country profiles and timeline:

Bangladesh: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12650940
India: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12557384
Nepal: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12511455
Pakistan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12965779
Sri Lanka: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11999611

Niraja Gopal Jayal, “The Governance Agenda, Making Democratic Development Dispensable”,
Economic and Political weekly, Vol.32, no.8, pp.407-412.

2& 3. Trajectories of Indian Democracy

The lectures will focus on India’s long democratic journey and its broadening over a period of
time. What explains democracy’s resilience and its shortcomings in India? Focus of this lecture
will be on the recent changes in Indian politics.

Sanjay Kumar, “India’s Maturing Democracy” in Takaashi Inoguchi and Mathew Carlson (eds.),
Governance and Democracy in Asia, Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2006, pp. 163-184

Ashutosh Varshney, “Is India becoming more Democratic?” The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.
59 (1), 2000, pp. 3-25

Atul Kohli, “Centralisation and Powerlessness: India’s Democracy in a Comparative

perspective” in his (ed.) Democracy and Development in India: From Socialism to Pro-Business,
New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 23-42

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph and Lloyd I Rudolph, “New Dimensions of Indian Democracy”,
Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, Number 1, January 2002, pp. 52-66

4, 5 & 6 Processes and challenges of democratization: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal

These lectures will focus on the dynamics of political change in these societies.

Aqil Shah, “Constraining Consolidation: Military politics and democracy in Pakistan (2007–
2013)”, Democratization, Vol. 2, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1007-1033

Stephen Philip Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan, Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press,
Chapter 3 (The Army’s Pakistan) pp. 97-130

Ian Talbot, “India and Pakistan”, Paul R Brass (ed.) Routledge Handbook of South Asian
Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 27-40

Ameena Mohsen and Meghna Guhathakurta, “The Struggle for Democracy in Bangladesh” in
Zoya Hasan (ed.) Democracy in Muslim Societies, pp. 46-74

Harry Blair, “Party over institutionalization, contestation, and democratic degradation in

Bangladesh” in Paul R Brass (ed.) Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, London and
New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 98-117

Krishna Hachhethu and David N. Gellner, “Nepal: Trajectories of Democracy and Restructuring
of the State” in Paul R Brass (ed.) Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, London and
New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 131-146

Mahendra Lawoti (ed.) Contentious Politics in Democratising Nepal, New Delhi: Sage, 2007, pp.
17-39
7. Majoritarian Democracy and its consequences: Sri Lanka

The lecture will focus on democratic order and violent ethnic politics in Sri Lanka. It would
examine state policies and their role in sharpening ethnic cleavages and their impact on the
democratic order.

Nira Wickramasinghe, Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History of Contested Identities, London:
Hurst &Co., 2006, pp. 161-199 (Citizens, Communities, Rights, Constitutions, 1947-2000.

Neil DeVotta, “Politics and Governance in Post-independent Sri Lanka” in Paul R Brass (ed.)
Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 118-
130

Jayadeva Uyangoda, “Ethnic Conflict and Civil War in Sri Lanka” in Paul R Brass (ed.)
Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 291-
302.

8. Pluralism and Democratic order in India

The lecture will deal with India’s staggering diversity, and how the political system relates to and
accommodates them.

Myron Weiner, “India’s Minorities; Who are They? What Do They Want?” in Partha Chatterjee
(ed.) State and Politics in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 459-495

Atul Kohli, “Can Democracies Accommodate Ethnic Nationalism? Rise and Decline of Self-
Determination Movements in India” in his (ed.), Democracy and Development in India: From
Socialism to Pro-Business, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 43-67

Ashutosh Varshney, ‘Hindu Nationalism in Power, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 25, no.4,
October 2015, pp.34-45.

Sumit Ganguly, “The Crisis of Indian Secularism”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 14, Number 4,
October 2003, pp. 11-25

9 and 10 Ethnic Politics and nation-building challenges in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal

The lecture will be on the nation-building challenges in these countries and would analyze
politics and policies adopted by the states towards ethnic diversities.

Urmila Phadnis and Rajat Ganguly, Ethnicity and Nation-Building in South Asia, New Delhi,
Sage, 2001, pp.60-85 (Ethnic Groups in South Asia: An Overview)

Mohammad Waseem, “Ethnic and Islamic militancy in Pakistan” in Paul R Brass (ed.)
Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 274-
290

Muhammad Ismail Khan, Religion, Ethnicity and Violence in Pakistan, in Aparna Pande,
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan (Taylor and Francis, London 2017), pp.55-68.

Willem Van Schendel, A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009,
chapter 19, pp. 201-215

Ameena Mohsin, “National Security and the Minorities: The Bangladesh Case” in D. L. Seth and
Gurpreet Mahajan (eds.) Minority Identities and the Nation-State, New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1999, pp. 312-332

Mahendra Lawoti, Towards a Democratic Nepal: Inclusive Political Institutions for a

Multicultural Society, New Delhi: Sage, 2005, pp. 87-112 (Cleavages, Conflicts and Socio-
Cultural Groups)

11 & 12. Civil society and struggle for justice and better governance

These lectures will draw largely from Indian materials. They will throw light on contemporary
movements and their implications for better governance in South Asia.

Niraja Gopal Jayal, “The Role of Civil Society” in Sumit Ganguly et. al (ed.), The State of
India’s Democracy, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University, 2007, pp. 143-160

Rob Jenkins, “Civil Society Versus Corruption”, in Journal of Democracy, Volume 18, Number
2, April 2007, pp. 55-69

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, “Is Civil Society the Answer” in Dwaipayan Bhattacharya et. al (ed.),
Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experience, New Delhi: Sage, 2001, pp. 117-138

Indu Agnihotri and Vina Majumdar, “Changing Terms of Political Discourse: Women’s
Movement in India, 1970s-1990s” in T. K. Oommen (ed.), Social Movements- II, Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2010, pp. 181-202

T. K. Oommen, “Protests against Displacement by Development Projects” in his edited Social

Movements- II, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 317-335
TUTORIAL DISCUSSION / PARTICIPATION

First Session: General discussion and topic allocation.

Second Session: India is the world’s largest democracy, generally applauded by scholars as a
success story due to its commitment to secularism, inclusivity and freedom of expression.
Nevertheless, critics have pointed out that Indian democracy is not without flaws. They argue
that regular elections cannot be the only benchmark of a democratic polity. Effective
governance, eradication of corruption, poverty and inequality are vital. Based on your views,
provide a critical assessment of Indian democracy.

Third Session: Pakistan and Bangladesh are two South Asian nations that have experienced
military rule at different points of their histories. Why did the military intervene and what effect
did it have on democracy and the stability of governance? Is military intervention always a
threat to civilian government or is it necessary in exceptional circumstances to provide stability?
You can focus on either country or do a comparative analysis of both.

Fourth Session: South Asian societies are diverse in terms of ethnicities, religious and linguistic
groups. How are the diversities handled by the states in South Asia? How are the minority
groups dealt with in these countries? Take any one country and discuss policies and practices in
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Fifth Session: Social movements, civil society activism can be seen as efforts to improve
governance in South Asia. They can also be viewed as a failure of governments to address the
issues of development, inequalities and social injustice. Discuss these issues in the light of the
readings provided in the module.

ASSESSMENT

Class Participation and Presentation: 30% (class participation 10% and presentation 20%)

Essay: 30%

Final Examination (Closed Book): 40%

There are five rounds of discussion sessions for this module. Students are required to make an
oral presentation and submit an essay on any of the discussion topics.

Topics for presentation will be developed in consultation with the instructor at the beginning of
the semester. Each student will prepare a presentation of roughly 25 minutes (use of sound and
video clips, photographs is encouraged to aid the presentation). This will be followed by a 15- 20
minute discussion in which all the other students in the class are expected to participate and add
actively to the discussion.
Additionally, each presenter is expected to prepare and circulate a hard copy of a handout of 1-2
pages, which could be used as background material for the other class mates. Please bring
sufficient printed copies of your hand-out for your classmates and the instructor on the day of the
presentation, and highlight the most important and salient ideas in the hand-out to facilitate a
more fruitful and interactive discussion in class. Please observe the time limit for your
presentation and the page limit for your handout. Practice your presentation to ensure that you do
not go beyond the allocated time.

Essay: 30%: The student should submit an essay on any of the discussion topics provided in the
course outline. The essay (2000-2500 words), not including footnotes and references, should
include proper citations and a bibliography. Essays without references and bibliography will not
be graded.

Please be advised of the NUS policy on plagiarism. All essays will be put through turn it in.
Students should submit a hard copy as well as upload a soft copy to the IVLE by Week 11.

Late submissions will be penalized.

PRECLUSIONS

PS2247 South Asia: Politics and Foreign Policy

TEACHING MODE

Lecture-tutorial format

SCHEDULE

Lecture: Monday, 4-6 pm AS3-03-04