Publication

India’s major states have different political histories and contemporary patterns of politics, yet contained as they are within the framework of India’s federal democracy, they also have important features in common. For this reason, India constitutes something of a ‘laboratory’ in which to study those factors in political systems that influence the development of pro-poor policies and their implementation. This paper examines the differences in the democratic regimes of major Indian states and explores the relationships of these both with 1) factors that are instrumental in reducing rural poverty and 2) the adoption and resourcing of pro-poor policies.