ABSTRACT
Gradual political decentralization and economic liberalization policies are having a tremendous impact on India’s federal system. However, the literature on comparative federalism has not explored how economic and political changes affect federal relations in India. In this paper I will first discuss India’s political decentralization by way of a gradual political party realignment in the 1980s. I will then examine the dimensions of India’s economic liberalization policies. I will then show how India’s political reform and economic liberalization policies have impacted federal relations in India. I will argue that the political party realignment in the 1980s combined with the economic liberalization policies in the 1990s has prompted a change in federal relations from cooperative federalism to interjuris dictional competition.
