mahibul choudhury - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by mahibul choudhury

LSE STICERD Research Paper No. DEDPS16, Jan 1, 1999

Disadvantaged groups tend also to constitute population minorities. One consequence of this is th... more Disadvantaged groups tend also to constitute population minorities. One consequence of this is that the policies implemented by electorally accountable governments often fail to reflect minority interests. A policy solution is to enhance the political power of minority groups as a vehicle for promoting their policy interests. This paper analyzes the success of an electoral law, which does so by reserving seats for minority groups in legislatures, in promoting minority interests. The paper develops a theoretical model of the political process to analyze the policy impact of such a law. The key theoretical assumption, that candidates cannot commit to policies, implies that identity is relevant to policy choices. The analysis identifies economic reasons why this may lead parties to never field minority candidates. In such cases the model predicts that an electoral law of political reservation will influence policies. The paper takes advantage of the existence of such a law in India to test this prediction empirically. The principal finding is that minority representation has increased transfers to minorities. This suggests that political representation is central to the design of strategies that aim at promoting minority interests. More generally, the results indicate that legislator identity influences policies, and provide some support for the contention that politicians cannot fully commit to policies.

The American Political Science Review, Jan 1, 1973

... distribution in the state as a whole. Bi-har state had a Muslim minority of 13.48 per cent at... more ... distribution in the state as a whole. Bi-har state had a Muslim minority of 13.48 per cent at the time of the 1971 census, as against an all-India figure of 11.21 per cent. This statis-tic represented a substantial growth for the 15Ibid. ...

European Journal of Political Research, Jan 1, 1990

Abstract. The members of the European Parliament are elected in nationally organized and domestic... more Abstract. The members of the European Parliament are elected in nationally organized and domestically oriented polls; however, in the Strasbourg Assembly they form transnational Party Groups or Europarties. The Rules of Procedure require such formations for the functioning of the Assembly, but Party Groups are much more than procedure requisites. They assemble elected representatives of national parties which share a consistent similarity in political ideologies and strategies. Party integration is a decisive development in the unification process of the Western European countries and it is expected to come from the Party Groups experience. The paper analyses such an issue by examining roll-call votes. Data include a systematic sample of votes cast during the first and second elected Parliament. The research looks into two fundamental items: (a) Party Group cohesion (an index of agreement is used to measure it); (b) voting line-ups of Party Groups. The aim is to point out the most important political cleavages and issues of the Community political system.

We investigate the determinants of power subsidies in India with a focus on the effects of politi... more We investigate the determinants of power subsidies in India with a focus on the effects of political instability. To explain the factors behind the tremendously costly power subsidies in India, earlier papers have proposed that instability in Indian politics promotes the opportunistic behaviour of politicians, inducing politicians to expand power subsidies in order to win the votes of farmers.

The paper examines political awareness, participation and the unusual stability of political powe... more The paper examines political awareness, participation and the unusual stability of political power in rural West Bengal, using data from a household survey conducted by the authors during 2003-05. We examine variation of voting and other political behaviour across households of varying socio-economic characteristics. The analysis suggests that (i) political participation was high on the average; (ii) within village distribution of panchayat benefits had no anti-poor, anti-SC/ST bias; (iii) distribution of benefits across villages was biased against GPs with more landless households; and (iv) the lasting political success of the Left owes partly to a clientelist relationship of the party with the voters, and partly to gratitude of voters of low socio-economic status arising out of broad-based socio-economic changes.

LSE STICERD Research Paper No. DEDPS16, Jan 1, 1999

Disadvantaged groups tend also to constitute population minorities. One consequence of this is th... more Disadvantaged groups tend also to constitute population minorities. One consequence of this is that the policies implemented by electorally accountable governments often fail to reflect minority interests. A policy solution is to enhance the political power of minority groups as a vehicle for promoting their policy interests. This paper analyzes the success of an electoral law, which does so by reserving seats for minority groups in legislatures, in promoting minority interests. The paper develops a theoretical model of the political process to analyze the policy impact of such a law. The key theoretical assumption, that candidates cannot commit to policies, implies that identity is relevant to policy choices. The analysis identifies economic reasons why this may lead parties to never field minority candidates. In such cases the model predicts that an electoral law of political reservation will influence policies. The paper takes advantage of the existence of such a law in India to test this prediction empirically. The principal finding is that minority representation has increased transfers to minorities. This suggests that political representation is central to the design of strategies that aim at promoting minority interests. More generally, the results indicate that legislator identity influences policies, and provide some support for the contention that politicians cannot fully commit to policies.

The American Political Science Review, Jan 1, 1973

... distribution in the state as a whole. Bi-har state had a Muslim minority of 13.48 per cent at... more ... distribution in the state as a whole. Bi-har state had a Muslim minority of 13.48 per cent at the time of the 1971 census, as against an all-India figure of 11.21 per cent. This statis-tic represented a substantial growth for the 15Ibid. ...

European Journal of Political Research, Jan 1, 1990

Abstract. The members of the European Parliament are elected in nationally organized and domestic... more Abstract. The members of the European Parliament are elected in nationally organized and domestically oriented polls; however, in the Strasbourg Assembly they form transnational Party Groups or Europarties. The Rules of Procedure require such formations for the functioning of the Assembly, but Party Groups are much more than procedure requisites. They assemble elected representatives of national parties which share a consistent similarity in political ideologies and strategies. Party integration is a decisive development in the unification process of the Western European countries and it is expected to come from the Party Groups experience. The paper analyses such an issue by examining roll-call votes. Data include a systematic sample of votes cast during the first and second elected Parliament. The research looks into two fundamental items: (a) Party Group cohesion (an index of agreement is used to measure it); (b) voting line-ups of Party Groups. The aim is to point out the most important political cleavages and issues of the Community political system.

We investigate the determinants of power subsidies in India with a focus on the effects of politi... more We investigate the determinants of power subsidies in India with a focus on the effects of political instability. To explain the factors behind the tremendously costly power subsidies in India, earlier papers have proposed that instability in Indian politics promotes the opportunistic behaviour of politicians, inducing politicians to expand power subsidies in order to win the votes of farmers.

The paper examines political awareness, participation and the unusual stability of political powe... more The paper examines political awareness, participation and the unusual stability of political power in rural West Bengal, using data from a household survey conducted by the authors during 2003-05. We examine variation of voting and other political behaviour across households of varying socio-economic characteristics. The analysis suggests that (i) political participation was high on the average; (ii) within village distribution of panchayat benefits had no anti-poor, anti-SC/ST bias; (iii) distribution of benefits across villages was biased against GPs with more landless households; and (iv) the lasting political success of the Left owes partly to a clientelist relationship of the party with the voters, and partly to gratitude of voters of low socio-economic status arising out of broad-based socio-economic changes.