The Legacy of Authoritarianism in a Democracy

Pramod Sur

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: Recent democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarian regimes worldwide have rekindled interest in understanding the causes and consequences of such authoritarian rule in democracies. In this paper, I study the long-run political consequences of authoritarianism in the world's largest democracy. Exploiting the unexpected timing of the authoritarian rule imposed in India in the 1970s and using a difference-in-difference (DID), triple difference (DDD), and a regression discontinuity design (RDD) estimation approach, I document a sharp decline in the then-dominant incumbent, the Indian National Congress party's political dominance in subsequent years. I also present evidence that the decline in political dominance was not at the expense of a lower voter turnout rate. Instead, a sharp rise in the number of opposition candidates contesting elections in subsequent years played an important role. Finally, I examine the enduring consequences, revealing that confidence in politicians remains low in states where the draconian policy was high.

Date: 2022-02, Revised 2023-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-cdm, nep-his and nep-pol
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Working Paper: The Legacy of Authoritarianism in a Democracy (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arx:papers:2202.03682

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