The more things change, the more they stay the same in India: The Bahujan and the paradox of the "democratic upsurge"

Abstract

This paper examines "no opinion" and "don't know" responses in the National Election Study 2004. Comparing responses on social and political questions, it finds that the marginalized sectors of society are more likely to be socially opinionated than to express substantive political opinions. This paradox might explain why the so-called "democratic upsurge" did not produce radical political transformation in India. © 2012 by the Regents of the University of California.