Democracy and Conflict in South Asia

Course Type	Course Code	No. Of Credits
Discipline Elective	SDS2DS227	2

Course Coordinator and Team: Ivy Dhar

Email of course coordinator: ivy@aud.ac.in

Pre-requisites: NA

Course Description & Objectives:

States in South Asia have received much academic attention due to their experiments and experiences with democracy. This course introduces studies on democracy in South Asia through a comparative approach. Having evolved from the colonial encounter, South Asian states face numerous political and development challenges that continue to pose threats to the well-being of democracy. Being a civilizational region, South Asia is home to many cultures, and each state has majority-minority issues and contestations over resources. A core objective of the course is to study conflicts by examining both internal disorders and issues related to cross-border disputes. To situate the context better, we will look at a few states more closely. By focusing on the trajectories of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the course will bring up discussions on stable and unstable democracies. The course will give students an idea of looking at South Asia as a region in the post-colonial trajectory, and observe the independent dynamics that separate states offer. The course has three broad themes on democracy, conflicts, and identities and within which the modules are placed. The case studies for discussion may be included as per the requirements of the module. For an in-depth discussion, the last three modules will be focusing primarily on one/two specific country. The key topics in the course will allow students to engage with conceptual and theoretical questions on democracy and conflict, and draw upon empirical insights. Students will be encouraged to follow media coverage on South Asian states to update further understanding.

Expected Learning outcomes:

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Understand academic texts and comprehend region-specific course concepts
Draw a comparative analysis across South Asian countries
Apply the case study and map the transnational conflicts
Use critical skills to observe data and facts, and connect diverse information sets

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

Theme: Democracy

1. Perspectives on Democracy and Practices

This module will introduce debates on democracy by discussing the conceptual perspectives. It will look at how modernisation theories predict liberal democracy and its realisation in the context of developing regions. By consulting the scholarly work on the idea of democratic consolidation, it examines the applicability in South Asian settings.

2. History of Democracy: South Asian Political States

The collective unit called South Asia has both common and particular histories of its states. Their evolution after achieving independence as a post-colonial parliamentary state varies as some have been more stable than others. This module will take a comparative view to understand the countries that have a more sustainable democratic existence in view of countries that have had broken democracies with military coups. It will particularly discuss India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as case studies to understand the attainment and challenges to democratic longevity and crisis.

Theme: Conflicts

3. Security and Cross-Border Conflicts

The states in South Asia have concerns about poverty, deprivation, migration, and sectarian conflicts that not only disturb that particular state but also extend tensions to the border states. Along the lines of many strategic contents, there are concerns about water and energy. This module will discuss the regional security agenda and look at how the concerns carry a cross-border dispute. For an in-depth analysis, it will study water resources as an important driver of peace and stability in the region.

4. Understanding Internal Conflicts

The scholarly works on internal conflicts relate the term to the failure of institutions to mitigate differences among the various segments of society, and much of it depends on the functioning of democracy. This module will critically examine the underlying democratic questions, the development equations, and the role of state policies in shaping and diffusing ethnic conflict.

Theme: Identities

5. Studying Minority Identities

Pluralism in South Asia can be defined in multiple ways. The region has diverse language, religion, and ethnic compositions. Due to the typical requirement of political representation in a democracy, the groups carry the identity of majority or minority. This module will begin with the question of who are the minorities, by referring to the Constitutional perceptions and thereby enter the discussion on the democratic space for minorities. It will understand the rights, and the debates on inclusions and mainstreaming.

6. Reading Gender and Democracy

An understanding on democracy will not conclude without reading about gender in a region that has had several women as political heads and leaders but falls low on gender inclusion. The module aims to discuss the relationship between democracy and gender parity and women’s representation in the political landscape. It will take a closer look at the grassroots level and the marginalised spaces of de-centralised governance.

Assessments with weights (Tentative)

No. of Assessments	Weightage
Mid Term	50%
Summative	50%

Core Reading List:

Diamond, L.(1999). ‘Defining and developing democracy’ in Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (pp. 1-23). Johns Hopkins University Press.
Jørgen M. & Skaaning, S. (2013). ‘Democracy and conflict’ in Democracy and Democratization in Comparative Perspective (pp. 171-181). Routledge.
Haynes, J. (2014). Introduction. In J Haynes (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Democratization (pp. 1-9). Special Edition. Routledge.
Crawford G. & Abdulai A. (2014). Democratisation, poverty, and inequality. In J Haynes (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Democratization (pp. 1-9). Special Edition. Routledge.
Mitra, S.K. (2014). Transition to democracy, political capital and challenges of regional transformation in South Asia: Indian democracy in comparative Perspective. In B Chakma (Ed.), South Asia in Transition: Democracy, Political Economy and Security (pp. 17-49). Palgrave Macmillan.
Tudor M. (2013). How India institutionalized democracy and Pakistan promoted autocracy. In: The Promise of Power: The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan( pp.1-43). Cambridge University Press.
Blair, H. (2013). ‘Party overinstitutionalisation, contestation, and democratic degradation in Bangladesh’ P. R. Brass (ed) Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal (pp. 98-117). Routledge.
Barthwal-Datta, M., & Basu, S. (2017). Reconceptualizing regional security in South Asia: A critical security approach. Security Dialogue, 48(5), 393–409. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26294228.
Babar, S. & Liaqat, S. (2023). “Rethinking regional security paradigm: Non-traditional security threats and the role of regional dialogue in South Asia.” IPRI Journal, 23, no.2: 25-56.
Klare, Michael T (2020). "Climate change, water scarcity, and the potential for interstate conflict in South Asia." Journal of Strategic Security ,13, no. 4: 109-122.
Ejaz Ghani and Lakshmi Iyer (2010): “Conflict and development: Lessons from South Asia” in Economic Premise, No.31.
Corsi, M. (2004). Internal conflicts in Pakistan. Oriente Moderno, 84, no.1: 40-50.
Manchanda, R. (2009). ‘Politics of recognition’ In The No Nonsense Guide to Minority Rights in South Asia (1-51). Sage Publications.
Prasai, D. R. (2017). Issues of reservation and affirmative action for minorities in Nepal: An Anthropological Review. Himalayan Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 7, 1–12.
Haque, M.S. (2008). Local governance in South Asia. In: de Vries, M.S., Reddy, P.S., Haque, M.S. (eds) Improving Local Government. Governance and Public Management Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Zaman, F. (2012). Bangladeshi women’s political empowerment In urban local governance. South Asia Research, 32(2), 81–101.

Further Readings:

Aakriti Tandon & Michael O. Slobodchikoff (2019) Security in South Asia. The Round Table, 108(2), 117-119.
Ara, F., & Northcote, J. (2020). Women’s participation in Bangladesh politics: The gender wall and quotas. South Asia Research, 40(2), 266–281.
Chirot, D. (2009). ‘Does democracy work in deeply-divided Societies.’ In Z. Barany & R.G. Moser(ed.) Is Democracy Exportable? (pp.85-109). Johns Hopkins University Press.
Dutta, V. (2021). ‘Shared water: Contest, conflicts and cooperation’ in Water Conflicts and Resistance: Issues and Challenges in South Asia (1-22). Routledge.
Jalal A. (1995). Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Lokniti (2008): State of Democracy in South Asia: A Report, OUP.
Piyarathane, A. (2011). ‘Minority rights in Sri Lanka’. In U.K. Borhan & M.M. Rahman, (eds.) Minority Rights in South Asia. Peter Lang.
Shahzad, A. (2019). Issues of ethnic diversity and just development in Pakistan. Pakistan Perspectives, Vol. 24(1), 121-139.
Siddiqi, F.H (2012). The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements. Routledge.
Sudebi (1999). Constitutional accommodation of ethnicity and national identity in Nepal. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 6(1-2), 121-147.
Tudor, M. (2013). Explaining democracy’s origins: Lessons from South Asia. Comparative Politics, 45(3), 253–72.
Varshney, A. (1998). ‘India defies the Odd: Why democracy survives’. Journal of Democracy, 9(3), 36– 50.
Wagner, C. (1999). Democracy and state in South Asia: Between fragmentation and consolidation? Asian Survey, 39(6), 908–925