India
India has been one of the focus areas of our ‘Challenges to Global Democracy’ project. Toda convened a seminar in Tokyo in 2024 on India’s democratic erosion, and continues to feature research and voices related to the growing Hindu supremacism in the country
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Cockroaches Crawl Over Decaying Parties in Modi’s Parallel Universe
This weekend witnessed a cockroach infestation like never before in history. Hundreds of people braved New Delhi’s sweltering heat to gather at a protest site in the Indian capital donning cockroach masks on Saturday in the first physical demonstration of a nascent Gen Z movement called the “Cockroach Janta Party” that has already gained millions of followers…
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Breaking Point Bengal: An Election Heralds India’s Managed Democracy
This report asserts that the results of the provincial elections in India in April 2026 indicate that India’s backsliding has hit a new low. An election custom-made for Modi’s triumph marks the country’s transition to a Russia-style hybrid regime where elections exist to lend legitimacy to hegemonic power through procedural ritual. India blazed a trail…
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A White Supremacist’s Passage to India
This report examines transnational far-right alliances which are exacerbating existing challenges to democracy by creating a networked infrastructure that amplifies extremist ideologies, creates replicable authoritarian playbooks, and normalizes democratic erosion and hateful rhetoric. The report focuses on celebrity MAGA influencer and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer who, despite issuing slurs and rants against India and Indians…
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Latest Videos
India Roundtable – five India experts discuss the positive and negative consequences of the 2024 India election result.
July 24, 2024
In Conversation – Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane, authors of To Kill a Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism discuss their views of India under Prime Minister Modi, and the prospects for Indian democracy. Download the transcript here.
March 4, 2024
System Mapping
In June 2023, Toda Peace Institute’s international working group of researchers first met to explore common factors contributing to a global decline in democracy. The group devoted a session to exploring how the erosion of democratic institutions occurs from a systems perspective. In other words, what are the interactive dynamics and behaviors of key actors that lead to the decline of democracy, often resulting in reinforcing downward spirals? The working group reflected on a draft systems map and embarked on an ongoing process to refine the initial map. The resulting and continually evolving map can be used to complement more traditional analyses and cross-country comparisons. While systems mapping can help us understand how democratic erosion functions as an analytical process, it is best used to explore effective actions to counteract negative dynamics or to reinforce positive ones. The systems maps can also suggest strategic points of entry for pro-democratic practitioners.