Politics as Business: An Analysis of the Political Parties in Contemporary India
| Published date | 01 June 2016 |
| Date | 01 June 2016 |
| Author | Prakash Sarangi |
| DOI | 10.1177/2321023016634928 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Politics as Business: An Analysis
of the Political Parties in
Contemporary India
Prakash Sarangi1
Abstract
This article is an attempt to analyze the nature of transformation in the Indian political parties and to
rethink their role in the contemporary times. That parties are motivated to ‘serve’ the people and
inspired to ‘win’ elections is well documented. However, there are counter-examples of parties serving
people at a price or being equally powerful even while losing elections. Forming or sustaining a party
seems to be a survival strategy for political activists. Politics has become a business-like preoccupa-
tion. The recent climate of competition has led to the emergence of sizable rent-seeking professional
leaders. They calculate the returns on the political and economic investments made, which is not
confined to a zero-sum game of winning elections. There are pay-offs even when one loses an election.
Being in politics, a party activist has a distinct identity that could reap dividends in the form of prestige,
status and accessibility. These could be converted to pecuniary benefits. Parties look like business firms
in a political market.
Keywords
Politics as business, Indian political parties, political market, rent-seeking parties, political dividend
maximizer, political entrepreneur, Jugaad politics
Why does one form a political party? Why does one join a party as an active member or a leader? Very
often, it is proclaimed that a party and its members would like to ‘serve’ the society. This article is an
attempt to analyze a trend of moving away from this popular notion of a party as an organization at the
‘service’ of the people and to suggest that a party in contemporary India is analogous to a business firm,
which provides ‘service’ at a price, irrespective of whether it wins a contract to ‘manage’ the government
for a term.
Broadly, there are predominantly two types of conceptualizations of political parties in traditional
literature. First, a party embodies a principle; those who subscribe to this principle as a basis of formu-
lation of public policy become supporters of this party. Second, a party is an aggregator of interests;
it should, therefore, formulate policies which cater to its likely supporters. In either case, the political
parties are the principal players in electoral competition.
1 Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad and Currently on deputation as, Vice Chancellor, Ravenshaw
University, Cuttack, Odisha, India.
Studies in Indian Politics
4(1) 37–48
© 2016 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2321023016634928
http://inp.sagepub.com
Corresponding author:
Prakash Sarangi, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500046, India.
E-mail: pcsuoh@yahoo.com
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