ABSTRACT
It has never been easy to govern India. The country is huge, its society is the most diverse on earth, and it is beset by poverty, scarce resources, and marked inequalities. Over the past two decades, India's voters have become progressively sophisticated and impatient. People in every section of society-including the poor and least educatedhave become more aware of their collective strength and self-interest, more insistent in demanding responses from politicians, and more willing on election days to punish those who fail to respond. This has made India a more genuine democracy than it was in the first phase after independence in 1947, when prosperous groups dominated politics and poorer people settled for tokenism. But it has also made it an even more difficult country to govern.
