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Ethnic Cleavages and Democracy
India has been democratic for over 60 years. What makes it unusual as a democracy is the fact that its democracy has been successful over decades, despite the fact that the country comprises a wide diversity of cultures and religions. As such, India exemplifies the ideal of democracy: a country where everybody has the right to his or her preference in terms of culture and belief. For this reason, the country could be used as exemplary in applying democratic principles in a diverse environment. Other emerging democracies might therefore do well to investigate the specific strategies that India used to reach its current status as largest democracy in the world.
India's democratic history is interesting, not least because when the country began its new democracy, most democratic countries tended to predominantly white, powerful in terms of finance, Christian and generally with English as their dominant language. India had none of these features: the country was poor, mostly illiterate, and widely diverse in terms of language and religion. Yet its democracy has passed the test of time.
The main reason for this is the rise of a pluralist nationalism in the country. In reaction to the colonialism of the time, the anti-colonial Indian National Congress was founded as representative of all cultures in the country unified against colonialism. This paradigm remained as an essential cornerstone of the compromises that had to be made to legitimize the pluralist paradigm of democracy in India. This is a significant concept in both emerging and existing democracies. As the world is becoming more integrated, the ideal of pluralist nationalism is becoming increasingly viable.
Emerging democracies can then learn from India in terms of creating a pluralist democracy, where no single group takes precedent or power over any other. Instead, it is a collective national effort towards the success of the truly democratic principle.
Source
Kesavan, Mukul. India's Model Democracy. BBC News, 15 Aug. 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6943598.stm
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