Previous scholarship has established that the Indian National Congress (INC) is widely regarded as India’s dominant party due to its consecutive victories in winning the majority of the vote share in elections, its ability to manage and embrace internal conflict through strong organizational structures and the dominant capacity to set the public agenda and political order. To deepen understanding of this party, this article adopts a norm-based framework to define norms, a social understanding of social groups, which determines and shapes actions and behaviour. Building upon this framework, despite the electoral setbacks and even decline in electoral fortunes of Congress after Indira Gandhi since 1977, the INC has been able to maintain a significant presence in Indian party politics due to certain key norms, allowing it to adapt to a changing context. This article concludes that the INC’s set of norms on self-autonomy, social and national inclusivity, nationwide organization, social justice and peaceful and democratic resolution has over time shaped the Congress’s aspirations and achievements to become a dominant party. Regardless of the relative decline of electoral performance, these norms continue to set the INC as India’s dominant party, with a strong organizational structure and the ability to frame India’s political order.
This paper aims to study India’s decentralization process, which focuses on the Panchayat or the village government as a demonstration of success in India’s decentralization. This paper employs documentary research with a systemic review of relevant literature, articles, and documents on India's decentralization policy after independence up to the present (during 1947-2020). This paper found that India emphasizes people participation and decentralization, primarily through the Panchayat, which the constitution has authorized. The Indian government also established the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to facilitate the process of decentralization. The key success of India’s decentralization is related to its financial decentralization that allows the local government to collect tax and financial supports. This research also suggests five recommendations to increase the level of decentralization. First, decentralization must be written in a country’s constitution. Second, decentralization could effectively work with a unitary state with a federal feature. Third, the village is the foundation of decentralization. Fourth, the state should establish or form a ministry or another form of a government body to implement a policy of decentralization. Finally, decentralization must be political, administrative, and financial.
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