Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T16:38:04.717Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Democracy and infant mortality within India: from whether to why

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2016

Nisha Mukherjee Bellinger
Nisha Mukherjee Bellinger*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences & Cultural Studies, Montana State University – Billings, Billings, MT, USA
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How does democratic politics affect infant mortality? The bulk of existing research has debated whether democracies have lower levels of infant mortality than non-democracies. Yet, infant mortality varies as much within countries as it does between countries, suggesting that the political processes affecting infant mortality operate at the subnational level. To shed new light on the debate, this paper examines how three core democratic attributes affect infant mortality within a single democracy: India. I argue that higher levels of political representation, citizens’ participation, and electoral competition provide political incentives for elected representatives to reduce infant mortality. The theory is tested on a times-series data set from 15 major Indian states between 1980 and 2011. Overall, the results demonstrate the significance of democratic politics, particularly political representation, in influencing infant mortality.

Keywords

Indiademocracyhuman welfareinfant mortality
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 3 - 28
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen, C. (2000), ‘Why lagged dependent variables can suppress the explanatory power of other independent variables’, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Political Methodology Section of the American Political Science Association, UCLA.Google Scholar
Aguilera, N. and Marrufo, G.M. (2007), ‘Can better infrastructure and quality reduce hospital infant mortality rates in Mexico?’, Health Policy 80(2): 239–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arellano, M. and Bond, S. (1991), ‘Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations’, Review of Economic Studies 58(2): 227–297.Google Scholar
Banister, J. and Hill, K. (2004), ‘Mortality in China 1964-2000’, Population Studies 58(1): 55–75.Google Scholar
Bardhan, P.K. (1974), ‘On life and death questions’, Economic and Political Weekly 9(32/34): 1293–1304.Google Scholar
Beck, N. and Katz, J.N. (1995), ‘What to do (and not to do) with time-series cross-section data’, The American Political Science Review 89(3): 634–647.Google Scholar
Benjamin, R.W., Blue, R.N. and Coleman, S. (1971), ‘Modernization and political change: a comparative aggregate data analysis of Indian political behavior’, Midwest Journal of Political Science 15(2): 219–261.Google Scholar
Besley, T. and Burgess, R. (2002), ‘The political economy of government responsiveness: theory and evidence from India’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics 117(4): 1415–1451.Google Scholar
Besley, T. and Kudamatsu, M. (2006), ‘Health and democracy’, American Economic Review 96(2): 313–318.Google Scholar
Betancourt, R. and Gleason, S. (2000), ‘The allocation of publicly-provided goods to rural households in India: on some consequences of caste, religion and democracy’, World Development 28(12): 2169–2182.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, G. (2009), ‘Intra-state disparity in government expenditure: an analysis’, Economic and Political Weekly 44(26/27): 231–237.Google Scholar
Bose, A. (2007), ‘India’s disturbing health card’, Economic and Political Weekly 42(50): 10–13.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, B., Smith, A., Siverson, R.M. and Morrow, J.D. (2003), The Logic of Political Survival, Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Census of India (Various years), Population Enumeration Data, Office of the Registrar General. Retrieved 11 June 2011 from http://censusindia.gov.in/ Google Scholar
Chakraborty, T. and Kim, S. (2010), ‘Kinship institutions and sex ratios in India’, Demography 47(4): 989–1012.Google Scholar
Chandra, K. (2005), ‘Ethnic parties and democratic stability’, Perspectives on Politics 3(2): 235–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chatterjee, P. (2004), The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Chhibber, P. and Nooruddin, I. (2004), ‘Do party systems count? The number of parties and government performance in the Indian states’, Comparative Political Studies 37(2): 152–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chhibber, P., Shastri, S. and Sisson, R. (2004), ‘Federal arrangements and the provision of public goods in India’, Asian Survey 44(3): 339–352.Google Scholar
Church, R. (1984), ‘Conclusion: the pattern of state politics in Indira Gandhi’s India’, in J.R. Wood (ed.), State Politics in Contemporary India: Crisis or Continuity, Colorado: Westview Press, pp. 232–245.Google Scholar
Cleary, M.R. (2007), ‘Electoral competition, participation, and government responsiveness in Mexico’, American Journal of Political Science 51(2): 283–299.Google Scholar
Dahl, R.A. (1971), Polyarchy, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, R.A. (1989), Democracy and its Critics, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, L. (1997), ‘Introduction: in search of consolidation’, in L. Diamond, M.F. Plattner, Y. Chu and H. Tien (eds), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies: Themes and Perspectives, Baltimore, MD and London: John Hopkins University Press, pp. xiii–xlvii.Google Scholar
Downs, A. (1957), An Economic Theory of Democracy, New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Drèze, J. and Sen, A. (2002), ‘Gender inequality and women’s agency’, India: Development and Participation, Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 229–271.Google Scholar
Duverger, M. (1954), Political Parties, their Organization and Activity in the Modern State, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Dyson, T. and Moore, M. (1983), ‘On kinship structure, female autonomy and demographic behaviour in India’, Population and Development Review 9(1): 35–60.Google Scholar
Eckstein, H. (1963), ‘The impact of electoral systems on representative government’, in H. Eckstein and D. Apter (eds), Comparative Politics: A Reader, New York: Free Press, pp. 247–254.Google Scholar
Election Commission of India (Various years), Election Results - Key Highlights of Statistical Reports, Election Commission of India. Retrieved 18 March 2013 from http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/ElectionStatistics.aspx Google Scholar
Elliott, C. (2011), ‘Moving from clientelist politics toward a welfare regime: evidence from the 2009 assembly election in Andhra Pradesh’, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 49(1): 48–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enikolopov, R. and Zhuravskaya, E. (2007), ‘Decentralization and political institutions’, Journal of Public Economics 91(11–12): 2261–2290.Google Scholar
Fay, M., Leipziger, D., Wodon, Q. and Yepes, T. (2005), ‘Achieving child-health-related millennium development goals: the role of infrastructure’, World Development 33(8): 1267–1284.Google Scholar
Folasade, I.B. (2000), ‘Environmental factors, situation of women and child mortality in Southern Nigeria’, Social Science & Medicine 51(10): 1473–1489.Google Scholar
Franke, R.W. and Chasin, B.H. (1997), ‘Power to the Malayalee people’, Economic and Political Weekly 32(48): 3061–3068.Google Scholar
Gaudin, S. and Yazbeck, A.S. (2006), ‘Immunization in India 1993-1999: wealth, gender, and regional inequalities revisited’, Social Science & Medicine 62: 694–706.Google Scholar
Gerring, J. (2004), ‘What is a case study and what is it good for?’, American Political Science Review 98(2): 341–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerring, J., Thacker, S.C. and Moreno, C. (2005), ‘Centripetal democratic governance: a theory and global inquiry’, American Political Science Review 99(4): 567–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerring, J., Thacker, S.C. and Moreno, C. (2009), ‘Are parliamentary systems better?’, Comparative Political Studies 42(3): 327–359.Google Scholar
Gerring, J., Thacker, S.C. and Alfaro, R. (2012), ‘Democracy and human development’, Journal of Politics 74(1): 1–17.Google Scholar
Griffin, J.D. (2006), ‘Electoral competition and democratic responsiveness: a defense of the marginality hypothesis’, Journal of Politics 68(4): 911–921.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. (2005), ‘Socio-economic base of political dynamics in Madhya Pradesh’, Economic and Political Weekly 40(48): 5093–5100.Google Scholar
Gupta, S. (2006), ‘Political dynamics in Madhya Pradesh’, Economic and Political Weekly 41(17): 1723–1724.Google Scholar
Harriss, J. (1999), ‘Comparing political regimes across Indian states: a preliminary essay’, Economic and Political Weekly 34(48): 3367–3377.Google Scholar
Harriss, J. (2005), ‘Political participation, representation and the urban poor: findings from research in Delhi’, Economic and Political Weekly 40(11): 1041–1054.Google Scholar
Heller, P. (2000), ‘Degrees of democracy: some comparative lessons from India’, World Politics 52(4): 484–519.Google Scholar
Hesketh, T. and Zhu, W.X. (1997), ‘Health in China: from Mao to market reform’, BMJ: British Medical Journal 314(7093): 1543–1545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobcraft, J.N., McDonald, J.W. and Rutstein, S.O. (1984), ‘Socio-economic factors in infant and child mortality: a cross-national comparison’, Population Studies 38(2): 193–223.Google Scholar
India Today (2014), ‘Elections 2014: Promise of Good Health in the Air’, by Damayanti Datta. Retrieved 1 March 2016 from http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/elections-2014-promise-of-good-health-in-the-air/1/358056.html Google Scholar
Inkeles, A. (1969), ‘Participant citizenship in six developing countries’, American Political Science Review 63(4): 1120–1141.Google Scholar
Jorgenson, A.K. (2004), ‘Global inequality, water pollution, and infant mortality’, The Social Science Journal 41(2): 279–288.Google Scholar
Konisky, D.M. and Ueda, M. (2011), ‘The effects of uncontested elections on legislator performance’, Legislative Studies Quarterly XXXVI(2): 199–229.Google Scholar
Kumar, A.K.S., Chen, L.C., Choudhury, M., Ganju, S., Mahajan, V., Sinha, A. and Sen, A. (2011), ‘Financing health care for all: challenges and opportunities’, The Lancet 377(9766): 668–679.Google Scholar
Laasko, M. and Taagepera, R. (1979), ‘Effective number of parties: a measure with application to Western Europe’, Comparative Political Studies 12(1): 3–27.Google Scholar
Lake, D.A. and Baum, M.A. (2001), ‘The invisible hand of democracies: political control and the provision of public services’, Comparative Political Studies 34(6): 587–621.Google Scholar
Lijphart, A. (2012), Patterns of Democracy, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Lipset, S.M. (1996), ‘What are parties for?’, Journal of Democracy 7: 169–175.Google Scholar
Lipset, S.M. and Rokkan, S. (1967), Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Macinko, J., Guanais, F.C. and de F., M. de Souza, Marinho (2006), ‘Evaluation of the Impact of the Family Health Program on Infant Mortality in Brazil, 1990-2002’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 60(1): 13–19.Google Scholar
Manin, B., Przeworski, A. and Stokes, S.C. (1999), ‘Introduction’, in A. Przeworski, S.C. Stokes and B. Manin (eds), Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–26.Google Scholar
Manivannan, R. (1992), ‘1991 Tamil Nadu elections: issues, strategies and performance’, Economic and Political Weekly 27(4): 164–170.Google Scholar
Marshall, M. and Jaggers, K. (2012), Polity IV Project: Codebook and Data Files, Vienna, VA: Center for Systemic Peace.Google Scholar
Mayer, P. (2001), ‘Human development and civic community in India: making democracy perform’, Economic and Political Weekly 36(8): 684–692.Google Scholar
McGuire, J.W. and Frankel, L.B. (2005), ‘Mortality decline in Cuba, 1900-1959: patterns, comparisons, and causes’, Latin American Research Review 40(2): 83–116.Google Scholar
Measham, A.R., Rao, K.D., Jamison, D.T., Wang, J. and Singh, A. (1999), ‘Reducing infant mortality and fertility, 1975-1990: performance at all-India and state levels’, Economic and Political Weekly 34(22): 1359–1367.Google Scholar
Mencher, J.P. (1980), ‘The lessons and non-lessons of Kerala: agricultural labourers and poverty’, Economic and Political Weekly 15(41/43): 1781–1802.Google Scholar
Moon, B.E. and Dixon, W.J. (1985), ‘Politics, the state and basic human needs: a cross-national study’, American Journal of Political Science 29(4): 661–694.Google Scholar
Mosley, H.W. and Chen, L.C. (1984), ‘An analytical framework for the study of child survival in developing countries’, Population and Development Review 10: 25–45.Google Scholar
Murthi, M., Guio, A.-C. and Drèze, J. (1995), ‘Mortality, fertility, and gender bias in India: a district-level analysis’, Population and Development Review 21(4): 745–782.Google Scholar
Nag, M. (1983), ‘Impact of social and economic development on mortality: comparative study of Kerala and West Bengal’, Economic and Political Weekly 18(19): 877–900.Google Scholar
Nag, M. (1989), ‘Political awareness as a factor in accessibility of health services: a case study of rural Kerala and West Bengal’, Economic and Political Weekly 24(8): 417–426.Google Scholar
Nagdeve, D.A. (2014), ‘Antenatal care and safe delivery among social groups in Madhya Pradesh’, Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare 4(27): 255–268.Google Scholar
Padmanaban, P., Raman, P.S. and Mavalankar, D.V. (2009), ‘Innovations and challenges in reducing maternal mortality in Tamil Nadu, India’, Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 27(2): 202–219.Google Scholar
Pallikadavath, S., Foss, M. and Stones, R.W. (2004), ‘Antenatal care: provision and inequality in rural North India’, Social Science & Medicine 59: 1147–1158.Google Scholar
Powell, B.G. (2000), Elections as Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Visions, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Przeworski, A., Alvarez, M.E., Cheibub, J.A. and Limongi, F. (2000), Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pushkar, (2012), ‘Democracy and infant mortality in India’s “mini-democracies”: a preliminary theoretical inquiry and analysis’, Journal of South Asian Development 7(2): 109–137.Google Scholar
Ramshankar, (2004), ‘Madhya Pradesh: social tectonics in a two-party system’, Economic and Political Weekly 39(51): 5518–5521.Google Scholar
Reserve Bank of India (2010), Handbook of Statistics on State Government Finances – 2010, New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India. Retrieved 21 September 2014 from http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/OccasionalPublications.aspx?head=Handbook%20of%20Statistics%20on%20State%20Government%20Finances%20-%202010 Google Scholar
Reserve Bank of India (Various years), Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy. Retrieved 11 October 2012 from http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/AnnualPublications.aspx?head=Handbook%20of%20Statistics%20on%20Indian%20Economy Google Scholar
Robin, C. (2004), ‘Bihar elections: Laloo against who?’, Economic and Political Weekly 39(51): 5361–5362.Google Scholar
Ross, M. (2006), ‘Is democracy good for the poor?’, American Journal of Political Science 50(4): 860–874.Google Scholar
Rudolph, L. and Rudolph, S.H. (1967), The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sáez, L. and Sinha, A. (2009), ‘Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980-2000’, British Journal of Political Science 40: 91–113.Google Scholar
Sample Registration Systems (Various years), SRS Bulletin, Office of the Registrar General. Retrieved 8 March 2013 from http://censusindia.gov.in/ Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E.E. (1942), Party Government, New York: Rinehart.Google Scholar
Sen, G. (1992), ‘Social needs and public accountability: the case of Kerala’, in M. Wyuts, M. Mackintosh and T. Hewitt (eds), Development Policy and Public Action, Oxford: Open University Press, pp. 253–278.Google Scholar
Serra, R. (1999), ‘Putnam in India: is social capital a meaningful and measurable concept at Indian state level?’. IDS Working Paper No. 92, Brighton.Google Scholar
Shankar, R. and Sisodia, Y.S. (2009), ‘Madhya Pradesh: overriding the contours of anti-incumbency’, Economic and Political Weekly 44(6): 35–38.Google Scholar
Sharma, A.N. (1995), ‘Political economy of poverty in Bihar’, Economic and Political Weekly 30(41/42): 2587–2602.Google Scholar
Snyder, R. (2001), ‘Scaling down: the subnational comparative method’, Studies in Comparative International Development 36(1): 93–110.Google Scholar
Song, S. and Burgard, S. (2011), ‘Dynamics of inequality: mother’s education and infant mortality in China, 1970–2001’, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52: 349–364.Google Scholar
Trussell, J. and Pebley, A.R. (1984), ‘The potential impact of changes in fertility on infant, child and maternal mortality’, Studies in Family Planning 15(6): 267–280.Google Scholar
Varshney, A. (2000), ‘Is India becoming more democratic?’, The Journal of Asian Studies 59(1): 3–25.Google Scholar
Verba, S., Nie, N.H. and Kim, J.-o (1978), Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-Nation Comparison, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Verba, S., Schlozman, K.L. and Brady, H.E. (1995), Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Victora, C.G., Wagstaff, A., Schellenberg, J.A., Gwatkin, D., Claeson, M. and Habicht, J.P. (2003), ‘Applying an equity lens to child health and mortality: more of the same is not enough’, The Lancet 362: 233–241.Google Scholar
Waitzkin, H. (1983), ‘Health policy and social change: a comparative history of Chile and Cuba’, Social Problems 31(2): 235–248.Google Scholar
Wigley, S. and Akkoyunlu-Wigley, A. (2011), ‘The impact of regime type on health: does redistribution explain everything?’, World Politics 63(4): 647–677.Google Scholar
World Bank (2015), World Development Indicators, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Wyatt, A.K.J. (2002), ‘New alignments in South Indian politics: the 2001 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu’, Asian Survey 42(5): 733–753.Google Scholar
Zweifel, T.D. and Navia, P. (2000), ‘Democracy, dictatorship, and infant mortality’, Journal of Democracy 11(2): 99–114.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Bellinger supplementary material

Tables 5-9

Download Bellinger supplementary material(File)
File 77.3 KB