The chapter “Reconstructing Democracy in South Asia” by Rounaq Jahan and Rehman Sobhan was published in Democracy, Sustainable Development, and Peace, Akmal Hussain and Muchkund Dubey (eds.) in December 2013.
This chapter identifies the central issue in the evolution of democratic politics in South Asia: the need to democratize election-based political practice which has autocratic tendencies. The gap between the principle and practice of democratic governance has engendered the emergence of undemocratic political forces which are threatening electoral democracy. It argues that one of the most serious challenges to democracy in South Asia is the undemocratic culture of political parties. While each of the states of South Asia ‘has multiple ethnic, religious and caste groups, none has accommodated this diversity’. If citizens are to have a stake in defending democracy against extra democratic challenges then it is necessary to address the structural injustices that underlie social and economic inequalities in South Asian societies.
Table of Contents with abstracts
Keywords: evolution; democratize; autocratic; undemocratic culture; accommodated; diversity; structural injustices
Chapter. 13004 words. ISBN: 9780198092346. Published online June 2014, e-ISBN: 9780199082834, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198092346.003.0006