Democracy and Impunity
Price: 595.00 INR
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ISBN:
9780197844304
Publication date:
06/08/2025
Hardback
200 pages
235x156mm
Price: 595.00 INR
We sell our titles through other companies
Disclaimer :You will be redirected to a third party website.The sole responsibility of supplies, condition of the product, availability of stock, date of delivery, mode of payment will be as promised by the said third party only. Prices and specifications may vary from the OUP India site.
ISBN:
9780197844304
Publication date:
06/08/2025
Hardback
200 pages
Alexander Lee
A comprehensive introduction to the politics of law enforcement in India and the crisis of criminal impunity,Includes new quantitative data and original interviews,Argues that the institutional weakness of law enforcement in India allows elite crime to go unchecked,Proposes policy reforms to alleviate the impunity crisis
Rights: OUP USA (INDIAN TERRITORY)
Alexander Lee
Description
India faces a crisis of criminal impunity. Crimes against the poor and marginalized go unprosecuted, while crimes committed by the rich and influential are ignored in return for bribes or favors. Those who have enough money to pay the police, or enough power to influence them, can quite literally get away with murder.
In Democracy and Impunity, Alexander Lee examines the politics of law enforcement in India and why the police perform so poorly across multiple dimensions—a level of performance that is exceptional even for similar developing democracies. Lee shows that high levels of impunity in India are the result of two interdependent policy choices—the Indian police are severely under-resourced and have very low autonomy in relation to senior members of the political elite.
While Lee focuses on India, his account sheds light on how nations can find themselves in the "policy trap" of low police resources and low police autonomy, and why they find it so hard to get out of this equilibrium. He also explains why some politicians find it in their interests to have a weak and tightly controlled police force, why many police officers work with these politicians, and discusses specific reforms that could alleviate the impunity crisis.
About the author
Alexander Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. His research focuses on the politics of South Asia, the process of economic and political development, and the role of historical forces and events in shaping modern politics. He is the author or co-author of four books, including From Hierarchy to Ethnicity and The Cartel System of States.
Alexander Lee
Table of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
1:Introduction
2:Institutional Background
3:The Police's Constraints: Low Resources, Low Autonomy
4:The Politics of Impunity
5:The Political Origins of Low Autonomy and Low Resources
6:The Political Origins of High Resources and Low Autonomy
7:Is the Indian Police Reformable?
Appendix: Regression Results
Bibliography
Index
Alexander Lee
Description
India faces a crisis of criminal impunity. Crimes against the poor and marginalized go unprosecuted, while crimes committed by the rich and influential are ignored in return for bribes or favors. Those who have enough money to pay the police, or enough power to influence them, can quite literally get away with murder.
In Democracy and Impunity, Alexander Lee examines the politics of law enforcement in India and why the police perform so poorly across multiple dimensions—a level of performance that is exceptional even for similar developing democracies. Lee shows that high levels of impunity in India are the result of two interdependent policy choices—the Indian police are severely under-resourced and have very low autonomy in relation to senior members of the political elite.
While Lee focuses on India, his account sheds light on how nations can find themselves in the "policy trap" of low police resources and low police autonomy, and why they find it so hard to get out of this equilibrium. He also explains why some politicians find it in their interests to have a weak and tightly controlled police force, why many police officers work with these politicians, and discusses specific reforms that could alleviate the impunity crisis.
About the author
Alexander Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. His research focuses on the politics of South Asia, the process of economic and political development, and the role of historical forces and events in shaping modern politics. He is the author or co-author of four books, including From Hierarchy to Ethnicity and The Cartel System of States.
Table of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
1:Introduction
2:Institutional Background
3:The Police's Constraints: Low Resources, Low Autonomy
4:The Politics of Impunity
5:The Political Origins of Low Autonomy and Low Resources
6:The Political Origins of High Resources and Low Autonomy
7:Is the Indian Police Reformable?
Appendix: Regression Results
Bibliography
Index
The Nehru-Era Economic History and Thought & Their Lasting Impact
Arvind Panagariya
Douglas Allen
Internal Security in India: Violence, Order, and the State
Amit Ahuja & Devesh Kapur
The Oxford Handbook of Indian Politics
Sumit Ganguly and Eswaran Sridharan
Rudrangshu Mukherjee
The University as a Site of Resistance
Gaurav J. Pathania
Charles Assisi, N.S. Ramnath
Marginalized, Mobilized, Incorporated
Rina Verma Williams
Indian Foreign Policy (Revised Ed)
Sumit Ganguly
Indian Muslim(s) after Liberalization
Maidul Islam
