For a summary of Family Politics, read on, and for the FULL DATASET, click here. For more about India: A Portrait by Patrick French, click here.
‘French’s database will go a long way in explaining who governs India to the world. He doesn’t say that hereditary MPs are bad, nor that they should not stand for election. Rather, he shows how political success depends on who your parents are … The importance of this data for students of political science cannot be over-estimated – not because one out of six people in the world is an Indian, but because, as French notes, one out of every two people living in a democracy is an Indian.’
-The Independent
How open is the Indian political system? Yes, it is the world’s largest democracy and everyone has a right to vote – and that is a precious thing. But does everyone really have an opportunity to stand for Parliament? You can vote, but what are the chances you will ever be voted for?
While researching his new book India: A Portrait – published in India and the UK in January 2011 by Penguin, and forthcoming in the USA from Knopf in June 2011 – Patrick French (@PatrickFrench2 on Twitter) conducted a one-of-its kind survey which tried to answer the following question: What does it take to join politics at the national level today? Is it within or out of reach for the many millions of capable Indians who might like to throw a hat in the ring?
Once the information about all 545 MPs in the Lok Sabha was received, tabulated and analyzed, the political background was classified into 9 categories. No significant family background: MPs who had made their way on their own ability; Business; Family: MPs who owe their access to the political system to their family background (also called hereditary MPs or HMPs for our survey); Inducted: MPs who were usually actors/actresses/cricketers or had parachuted into Parliament; Maoist Commander; Royal family; RSS; Student politics; Trade union.
At first glance, it appears that less than half of all MPs in the current Lok Sabha have entered politics through the grassroots:
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46.8% of the MPs have no significant family political background. Three out of ten MPs (28.6%) entered politics through family connections. This did not seem a surprising statistic, but further investigation revealed more.
Breaking down the data further, we found that an alarming 69.5% of women MPs came into politics through family connections. After the 108th Constitution Amendment (passed by the Indian Parliament in 2010 to reserve 33 per cent of seats in national and state-elected bodies for women) is implemented, this number is likely to rise further.
Then came a much more disturbing piece of information: A disaggregated analysis of the political background of MPs with age suggests that there is a direct linear relationship between age and hereditary MPs: a greater proportion of younger MPs have a family political background, in comparison to others. So if you are young and want to join national politics, one of the only available routes seems to be through family connections. Take a look at this:
- ~ All MPs whose age is less than 30 years are hereditary.
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- ~ More than two-thirds of MPs aged under 40 are hereditary.
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- ~ 27 MPs are ‘hyperhereditary’, and 19 of them are in the Congress party. By hyperhereditary, we mean that they have several family members who have made a career out of politics.
The average age of a hereditary MP is 48 years, whereas the average age of an MP with no significant family background is 58 years. Since a hereditary MP is likely to join parliament at an early age, this translates into a decade of political advantage for him/her.
So which parties practice family politics? Congress leads the way in dynasty politics. All 11 Congress MPs under 35 years are hereditary.
Almost nine out of every ten (88%) Congress MPs under 40 are hereditary and the percentage increases as age reduces. The near perfect linear relationship is illustrated in the following graph:
The proportion of hereditary MPs in Congress (37.5%) is approximately equal to the proportion of Congress MPs who do not have any significant family background (40.4%).
And what about the regional parties?
Regional parties have a higher incidence of hereditary MPs, in comparison to the national parties. Here are some statistics:
So are some states in India more dynastic than others? Click here to read more. And to see more on our new findings, that a hyper-hereditary MP (HHMP), or one who has multiple family connections in politics, is THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY to become a minister, click here.
Or to learn about different aspects of India: A Portrait, click here.
Family politics is a part and parcel of Indian political system. Excellent analysis.
True, family connections work in politics and films, not in areas where talent must be proved, bollywood star saif ali khan having a lineage of films and cricket chose films and proved himself after so many years which is not possible in sports like cricket. Same is the case with other star cricketer kids. Unfortunately, because of the ban in student politics in various educational institutions we loose many emerging leaders who do not carry the political lineage.
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This is not surprising! It happens in each and every field in india. Take Bollywood for example, see the trend. Majority of youngster are star kids or have some link with the Industry! They fail and fail and fall and still get another chance and eventually make it. Does others get these chances? No..Few things will never change. gets worst.
Wonder how states are fairing? There must be million more expamples where lineage has been utilized to gain “candidability” so selections could be made to look like election. That’s “fair” in a lot of places.
Good thing is that masses are increasingly discomforted by it.
The question of whether or not these hereditary MP’s are doing good work is rather moot. Hereditary politics is dangerous for the same reason the caste system is dangerous. It entrenches a social system based not on merit in itself but on birth and background. If infact a herediatry MP is doing good work, would he or she be able to emulate the same model of administration/governance far from the geoghraphical area of their family’s influence and still win a place in the parliament? If yes, then they deserve to be an MP, if not they don’t.
The information shared was already a “SILENT UNKNOWN FACT”..which needs to be broken down….but thnkx to the person who had published it to the common to let them know as exactly how the parliament member system works…………
but if this tradition is nt broken..India wud soon lie in hands of some brainless..influential and inefficient leaders…
Nice stats about our parliament.
Of course they entered via family ties. Who doesn’t? Its not only in India, but on a global scale. If you have a friend or family who can get you into a good position, would you not ask them for the favor?
Saying it it just in the politics is hypocritical. We all have a friend who has a friend who can do something we want quickly and we are never afraid to exploit that connection, whether it is for the making of a driver’s license or entering into the film industry or politics.
Goes to show why the country is still at the back-end of the world. Shame, ’cause you’d think at least in politics, the system would provide for some measure to discourage it. But then again, these people ARE the system.
/Rant
Very interesting work..
As long as they are capable and deliver to the people they represent then being hereditary is not an issue. After all being in politics because of heredity is not a sin. I wonder if this survey has done any analysis of the work these hereditary MPs are doing ???
Dynastic politics is only going to increase, as is indicated by all young politicians belonging to political families. At the time of independence, a new born democracy had politicians from all walks of life. But their children and grandchildren are creating an entrenchment in the system. This trend will not change unless political parties democratize themselves.
It would be interesting to see if there is a similar trend in other profession as well – film, music, law, medicine, etc.
Of course there will be a similar trend. Your first impressions about a good life stem from your own surroundings. But the question remains ” Do these people deserve such esteemed jobs ?” Certainly in medicine, I have progressed through my career by hard work, passing competetive exams and proving my worth. How many of these supposed young guns of Indian politics would have any experience let alone a university degree in politics or related matters. If you go through their CVs I bet you are more likely to find Masters in English Literature from Oxford, which would ceratinly explain their excellent eloquence in TV interviews !!!!!
Very Interesting ,I Think that time has come for A Change in the Political System..