Populism, public administration and democratic backsliding: the Indian experience

The article seeks to examine the impact of democratic backsliding on legislation seeking to advance public accountability in India. Accountability is the hallmark of public administration in democracies. The last few years have seen a growing literature on the impact of democratic backsliding on Indian parliamentary procedures, constitutional institutions, but the impact of populism on public administration remains understudied in India. In a parliamentary government, the party in power advances its programmes through the state bureaucracy. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of populism on bureaucratic legislations and institutions designed to combat corruption and advance good governance. The article argues that while democratic backsliding is an emerging phenomenon in the world, in India, the very roots of democracy have been authoritarian since the 1960s, evident in the different facets of bureaucratic centralization. What I examine is how the degree of authoritarianism has changed with populist governments in power. I ask how government policies (read majority party) have shaped public administration between 2014 and 2024 through a study of the implementation of administrative Acts designed to further accountability and transparency in administration.