INDIA'S NATIONAL FRONT AND UNITED FRONT COALITION GOVERNMENTS: A Phase in Federalized Governance

Abstract

The onset of coalition and minority governments in New Delhi is an important aspect of the paradigmatic shifts in the Indian political system in terms of political federalization and economic liberalization in the 1990s. A political system that previously had functioned as a predominantly parliamentary regime is becoming more federal, and a public (state) sector–dominated planned economy is opening up to market forces both domestically and globally. The immediate political context of coalition politics is the decline of the once-dominant Congress Party and the continuing failure of any party from the center, right, or left of the party system to win a working majority of its own to govern India. The recent trends of the metaphors of mandal (affirmative action reservations) and mandir (in essence, communalism) and the issue of state autonomy triggered different strategies of mobilization that significantly transformed the social and psychological bases of politics in India. Besides, a new pattern of social movements centered on single and regionspecific issues relating to quality of life (e.g., ecology, gender, utilities, and services), in addition to the older, comprehensive concerns of economic production and distribution have appeared on the scene. After decades of Congress dominance, coalition or minority governments today must govern India. However, neither coalition politics nor govern-