Elite Parties, Poor Voters: How Social Services Win Votes in India
(Cambridge University Press, Studies in Comparative Politics Series, 2014).
summary
Why do poor people often vote against their material interests? This puzzle has been famously studied within wealthy Western democracies, yet routinely manifests within poor countries. This book studies how this paradox emerged in India. It shows how arguments from studies of wealthy democracies (such as moral values voting) and the global south (such as patronage or ethnic appeals) cannot explain why poor voters in poor countries support parties that represent elite policy interests. The book draws on extensive survey data and fieldwork to document a novel strategy through which elite parties can recruit the poor, while retaining the rich. Parties can win over disadvantaged voters by privately providing them with basic social services via grassroots affiliates. Such outsourcing permits the party itself to continue to represent the policy interests of its privileged base.
AWARDS:
2015 APSA Luebbert Prize for best book in comparative politics.
2015 APSA Epstein Prize for best book on political parties.
2015 Gaddis Smith Prize, Yale University.
2010 APSA Almond for best dissertation in comparative politics.
2010 Sardar Patel Prize for best dissertation on modern India in the fine arts, humanities, or social sciences.
2010 Esman Prize, Cornell University.