Globalization and Economic Reforms: Eroding Democratic Struggles in India

The article examines how India's democratic process is being undermined by Globalization, primarily due to the economic reforms implemented by the Indian government. The analysis of these factors is the main component of the research. It emphasises that, despite their conflicts, India's relationship with democracy and Globalisation is mainly positive. Colonial economic policies had undermined the democratic aspirations of social forces in India before independence, as well as the state-led development strategies that followed independence, the current foreign direct investment, and the multilateral administration of the global order. The study also suggests that the dynamics of Globalisation and Indian economic reform initiatives are largely mutualistic and correspond to one another. Although the country's democratic authorities successfully promoted economic reforms, there is a belief that they sometimes offered regressive answers that the dynamics of democratisation had not intended. The second and most significant part of the study presents a critical perspective on the (mis)implementation of several economic reforms in India, grounded in the theoretical framework. The primary structure and orientation of the nation towards market liberalization and state divestiture are the two main effects of these reforms, together with the unintentional pursuit of nationalism by the Indian ruling elite. The first category of changes includes initiatives to combat poverty, the Green Revolution, and land reforms. The New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991 and the subsequent economic reforms, such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Make in India campaign, are among the key components of the second category, which includes slash-and-burn reductions, liberalisation, privatisation, and Globalisation.