ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that India’s success in remaining democracy is globally viewed and judged primarily in its minimalist form, encompassing nothing but a multiparty system, periodically held free elections, high level of participation and contestation that result in the peaceful and regular transfers of political power on a periodic basis. It refers to the factors that have made India a far more representative democracy in recent decades, going by increased level of participation and representation. An impressive size and scale of social and cultural identities along the regional lines has contributed to the presence of political parties of different hues, each having distinct claims to represent these identities. It is not only the sheer number of parties but also the variety of these parties in terms of their ideologies, social and spatial support base that easily makes Indian democracy akin to ‘an electoral laboratory’. It also underlines the emergence of the state as analytical unit for electoral analysis. It is in this context it refers to the emergence of the state parties and leadership at a time when except the BJP other national parties are in the state of decline.
