Do Party Systems Count? The Number of Parties and Government Performance in the Indian States

Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 152-187, 2004

37 Pages Posted: 9 May 2006 Last revised: 6 Jan 2008

See all articles by Pradeep K. Chhibber

Pradeep K. Chhibber

University of California, Berkeley - Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science

Irfan Nooruddin

Georgetown University

Abstract

Delivery of public goods varies significantly across the Indian states. This article argues that differences in state government expenditures are largely the result of differences in their party systems. Using macroeconomic data from 1967 to 1997 as well as postelection voter surveys, we demonstrate that states with two-party competition provide more public goods than states with multiparty competition, which, we argue, reflects differing mobilization strategies. In two-party systems, political parties require support from many social groups and therefore provide public goods to win elections. In multiparty systems, needing only a plurality of votes to win, parties use club, rather than public, goods to mobilize smaller segments of the population. In stressing the impact of party systems on state government performance in India, this article differs from recent political economy research, which has stressed either the effect of particular political parties or ethnic divisions on government performance and public goods delivery.

Keywords: Party systems, Party competition, Public goods, India, Government performance

Suggested Citation

Chhibber, Pradeep K. and Nooruddin, Irfan, Do Party Systems Count? The Number of Parties and Government Performance in the Indian States. Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 152-187, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=901084

Pradeep K. Chhibber

University of California, Berkeley - Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science ( email )

210 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

Irfan Nooruddin (Contact Author)

Georgetown University ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.irfannooruddin.org

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