Democratic Deepening in India and South Africa

2009/01/19 by Patrick Heller · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Social and Economic Development in India #South African History and Culture #South Asian Studies and Conflicts

paper · doi:10.1177/0021909608098679

openalex publication_date 2009/01/19 · crossref created 2009/01/19 · crossref issued 2009/02/01 · crossref published 2009/02/01 · crossref published-online 2009/02/01 · crossref published-print 2009/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/29 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

This article examines the trajectories of democratization in India and South Africa. Both democracies are exemplary cases of democratic consolidation but face critical challenges in deepening democracy. Focusing on the notion of `effective democracy', the article argues that subordinate groups have limited opportunities for meaningful engagement with the State. This problem is explored through an examination of social movements and local government. The article shows that the current crisis of citizenship that both countries face results from the subordination of civil society to political society.

Cited by

• Print media coverage of service delivery protests in South Africa: A content analysis
• Young Men, Education and Ethnicity in Contemporary Darjeeling

Related

• Democracy, Participatory Politics and Development: Some Comparative Lessons from Brazil, India and South Africa
• Moving the State: The Politics of Democratic Decentralization in Kerala, South Africa, and Porto Alegre
• Dilemmas of Democratic Deepening in India: Notes from two North Indian states
• THE INDIAN EXCEPTIONALISM: WHY DID INDIA BECOME A DEMOCRACY? A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE AND SOME OBSERVATIONS TO THE DEBATE
• The Perils and Promises of Unequal Democracy: Insights from the Sociology of India