India’s Non-liberal Democracy and the Discourse of Democracy Promotion

Atul Mishra

South Asian Survey, 2012, vol. 19, issue 1, 33-59

Abstract: Emphasis on democracy in Indian and international perspectives on India’s foreign policy has grown over the past decade. Claiming that India is a ‘successful’ example of a non-Western liberal democracy, these perspectives prescribe a role for India in international democratisation efforts. The keener among these suggests that India must participate in Western-style, or Western initiatives of, democracy promotion. This article offers a critique of these prescriptions. Recent theorisations of India’s democratic practices argue that India is a predominantly non-liberal democracy. Drawing upon these theorisations, this article outlines the non-liberal features inherent in the practices of Indian democracy. It also outlines the democratic processes that restrain India’s foreign policy from acquiring an other-regarding orientation. Contesting the characterisations of India as a liberal democracy, this article questions the basis on which the calls for India to participate in liberal democracy promotion projects are made.

Keywords: Democracy promotion; postcolonial democracy; liberalism; India’s new foreign policy; US foreign policy; non-Western IR theory; universalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:soasur:v:19:y:2012:i:1:p:33-59

DOI: 10.1177/0971523114539584

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