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Over the last decade, election campaigns in India have undergone a dramatic shift. Political parties increasingly rely on political consulting firms, social media volunteers, pollsters, data-driven insights, and hashtag wars to mobilize voters. What is driving these changes in the landscape of electioneering? The Backstage of Democracy takes readers to the hidden arena of strategizing and deliberations that takes place between politicians and a new cabal of political professionals as they organize election campaigns in India. The book argues that this change is not reducible to a story of technological innovations alone. Rather, it is indicative of a new political culture where ideas of political expertise, the distribution of power within parties, and citizens' attitudes towards political participation have undergone a profound change. Marshalling an eclectic range of data sources, the book breaks new ground on how we understand the workings of India's electoral and party politics.
List of contents
List of Tables; List of Figures; List of Abbreviations; Glossary; Preface & Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: Situating the Backstage of India's Democracy; 2. A Causal Framework for Professionalisation of Politics; 3. A Brief History of Electioneering; 4. 'Computer Boys' and 'Big Data' in the Indian National Congress; 5. Reluctant Professionalisation in the Bharatiya Janata Party; 6. The Rise of Political Consultants in India; 7. The Everyday Life of Political Consulting Firms; 8. Conclusion; Appendix: I-PAC Core Team Members' Dataset – A Methodological Note; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Amogh Dhar Sharma is an Economic and Social Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford. He has previously worked as a Departmental Lecturer in Modern South Asia Studies at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies and as a Stipendiary Lecturer in Politics at the Queen's College, Oxford. His research interests include comparative politics, political communication, and the political economy of development in South Asia.
Summary
Offers a comprehensive study of the changing landscape of election campaigns in contemporary India and shows the hidden influence of professionals in these campaigns. By studying political communication in a developing country, this offers fresh insights on the intersection of democratic politics and technological change.
Foreword
Offers an insight into the secret world of campaign professionals who work behind-the-scenes in India's election campaigns.
