Democracy in Times of Democratic Erosion: The Case of India

This article draws on evidence gathered from the India Election Survey 2024, a nationally representative post-poll survey of voter perceptions, to deepen understandings of democratic resilience in contexts of democratic erosion. Drawing on survey findings, it advances the argument that India’s political culture is characterised by the prevalence of an entrenched ‘democratic sentiment’ that makes itself visible in moments of blatant democratic subversion. This ‘sentiment’ played a role in shaping the contours of the 2024 general elections in India. However, the survey also exposed several contradictory impulses in expressions of this sentiment. I theorise this as ‘limited liberalism’. Through this article, I seek to make the case for scholarship on democratic backsliding to pay greater attention to the complex and contradictory liberal impulses in mass politics. This is crucial in order to develop a more nuanced perspective on the challenges to democracy and opportunities for democratic resilience in the contemporary moment.