eprintid: 4128
rev_number: 40
eprint_status: archive
userid: 1
dir: disk0/00/00/41/28
datestamp: 2003-01-04 13:55:49
lastmod: 2016-01-06 16:46:55
status_changed: 2012-08-14 15:10:04
type: workingPaper
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Schwecke, Sebastian
title: The Rationality of Politics in Uttar Pradesh : Towards a Re-evaluation of the Concept of Factionalism
ispublished: pub
subjects: ddc-320
divisions: i-702000
divisions: i-999904
keywords: India , Uttar Pradesh , Domestic Politics , Factionalism , Elections
cterms_swd: Indien
cterms_swd: Politische Wissenschaft
cterms_swd: Uttar Pradesh
cterms_swd: Innenpolitik
cterms_swd: Wahlforschung
abstract: In this paper, competition between political actors in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is conceptualized as defying the commonly held assumptions on political behaviour in a democratic state. The party system in UP from 1993 onwards is characterized as a highly polarized and fragmented, but at the same time surprisingly stable tri-polar multi-party system, in which no party or alliance of parties is able to establish itself as a dominant political actor, primarily due to the parties’ reliance on informal political networks. The argument aims at making a case for a re-evaluation of Brass’ concept of factionalism (Brass 1965) with special reference to the changed and changing relationship between caste and state-level politics. It is argued that the behaviour of political actors at the state level is determined to a large extent by the process of alliance formation between communities at the constituency level aimed at establishing a favourable position for that community regarding access to state resources. In this process, community-based homogenous voting behaviour of several politically important social groups is linked to the formation and maintenance of political networks of support designed to maximize benefits for the political actors involved. Under these circumstances, and given the almost complete absence of ideological compulsions, political actors display a significant amount of flexibility in switching their loyalties between factions and parties. The use of caste in politics is conceptualized as primarily strategic and based on its relevant organizational properties.
abstract_translated_lang: eng
date: 2003
date_type: published
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00004128
portal_cluster_id: p-hdpaper
portal_order: 18
ppn_swb: 1643785044
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-41287
language: eng
bibsort: SCHWECKESETHERATIONA2003
full_text_status: public
series: Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics
volume: 18
issn: 1617-5069
citation:   Schwecke, Sebastian  (2003) The Rationality of Politics in Uttar Pradesh : Towards a Re-evaluation of the Concept of Factionalism.  [Working paper]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/4128/1/hpsacp18.pdf