Abstract
This review essay explores three recent monographs in distributive politics and one on ideological cleavages to interrogate the theoretical linkages between ethnicity, patronage and electoral competition in Indian politics. I argue that recent research in the politics of public distribution in India has complicated the ethnic voting for patronage provision model that has been a dominant explanation of how Indians vote and why. Ideological cleavages represent an alternative framework for understanding key electoral outcomes, such as the consolidation of a dominant party system under the BJP from 2014. The essay concludes with some suggestions of how ethnic, material and electoral politics in India can be studied, together and apart.
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