Prof Sumantra Bose

This course is available on the MSc in Comparative Politics and MSc in Global Politics. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Priority will be given to students taking the MSc Comparative Politics and the MSc Global Politics. Students on other Master's programmes, in all Departments of the School, are welcome to apply to take the course and will be considered subject to availability of space.This course is capped at 30 students (two seminar groups). The deadline for applying online via LSEforYou (LFY) to take the course is Friday 10 October 2014.

This course is an advanced introduction to the politics and international relations of contemporary India, the world's most populous and diverse democracy and one of the "rising powers" of the 21st century.

After the first week's introductory and overview session, the next six weeks cover in depth the evolution of India's democracy since the 1950s. The emphasis is on political changes and transitions since the 1990s. Key topics include the transitions from a polity dominated by a single party to a highly plural and competitive polity defined by the rise of "regional" parties in many of the 29 states of the Indian Union, and from a relatively centralized to a federal polity. Two current challenges with deep roots in the past are also surveyed: the Maoist insurgency in some parts of India and the chronic discontent in the Kashmir Valley.

The final three weeks look at India's role in the international politics of the early 21st century. The focus is on India's three most important (and interconnected) external relationships: with China, the United States, and Pakistan. 

15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the LT.

Sumantra Bose, Transforming India: Challenges to the World's Largest Democracy (2013); Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory (2013); Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi (2007); Atul Kohli (ed.), The Success of India's Democracy (2001); Christophe Jaffrelot, India's Silent Revolution (2003); Paul Brass, The Politics of India since Independence (1994); David Malone, Does the Elephant Dance? Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy (2011); William Antholis, Inside Out, India and China: Local Politics Go Global (2013)

Essay (100%, 5000 words) in the ST.

A research paper of 5000 words will determine 100% of the grade. Students can either choose from a set of supplied questions or formulate their own question (subject to the instructor's approval). The deadline for submission is the end (Friday) of Week 5 of the Summer Term.