ABSTRACT
The resilience of democracy in India, a “low cohesion” society as measured by the Asian Radar scale, is puzzling. In this chapter, I attribute this paradox to the reciprocal linkages of social fragmentation and democratisation, which, I argue, can sustain both processes. This differentiates India from other low social cohesion states of South Asia where democracy has been stymied or failed outright. Explanatory variables like the liberal democratic constitution and appropriate regulatory and representative institutions, an electoral process that conflates institutional participation with ‘rational’ protest, inclusive, territorial citizenship, catch-all political parties and coalitions that bundle social fragments into relatively cohesive electoral agendas, help balance democracy and discontent in India. An independent judiciary and active civil society act as vigilant watchdogs of orderly aggregation of individual preferences, transformation of electoral outcomes into governance, and accountability. Disaggregation of the national data into regions shows the diverse trajectories of social cohesion within the same country. Pending further investigation, regional data appear to support the positive correlation of social cohesion and democracy. The case study of India suggests a possible curvilinear relation of social cohesion and democracy in course of transition from mechanical to organic solidarity (Durkheim).
