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Political Capacity and the Decline of Fertility in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 1987

Alwyn R. Rouyer
Alwyn R. Rouyer*
Affiliation:
University of Idaho
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Abstract

With data from 15 Indian states, in this study I demonstrate that political capacity, defined as the ability of government to penetrate society and extract resources, has a more significant—though indirect—effect on fertility behavior than does level of economic development. A path-analysis model with six variables—crude birth rate (the dependent variable), family-planning-program effort, mean female age at marriage, physical-quality-of-life index (PQLI), income per capita, and political capacity—showed a strong indirect effect by the political-capacity measure on fertility decline through both the PQLI and family-planning effort. Within the model, income per capita had little effect on birth rate or any of the intervening variables. The conclusion drawn is that under conditions of economic backwardness as exist in India, it is politics, not economics, that is the primary determinant of fertility patterns.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , June 1987 , pp. 453 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1987

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