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
-
Is Trump Adding to the Backsliding of the ‘World’s Biggest Democracy’?
This report examines the consequences for India of a second Trump presidential term. With his steep tariffs and cheap insults, Trump has eroded a decades-old Indian public consensus of a pro-America policy and revived old animosities towards the US. If an estranged India’s strategic engagement with America and the democratic world loosens, it can only…
·
-
Have Dark Clous of 1935 Nuremberg Gathered over Indian Skies?
Some national elections became decisive milestones in the journey of the Indian republic. Free India’s first election in 1951-52 established to a widely sceptical world both the commitment and the capacity of the Indian people for electoral democracy. In 1977, the people of India voted overwhelmingly to restore the constitutional freedoms suspended during the 18-month…
·
-
Narendra Modi’s War on Civil Society on the Cusp
As India undergoes an existential election for its democracy and future, the fate of its civil society hangs in balance. Thousands of NGOs have already wilted in the populist heat on the sector and the rest are bracing for Narendra Modi to turn it up if he wins another term…
·
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.