Politics, Social Change & Development in South Asia

Catalog description

How did the borders of South Asian countries come to be formed? What explains the variation in the types of regimes - democratic and authoritarian - across South Asia? To what extent do these countries vary in the structure of their states as well as regimes? How does ethnic diversity affect the politics of South Asian countries? What is the pattern of economic growth across these countries, and their human development record and why? What explains the high levels of violence in some South Asian countries and patterns of variation across these countries? These are some of the questions that this course addresses, with a primary focus on India and a secondary focus on Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma, and Bhutan. Although students learn a vast number of facts about the history and politics of the region, the primary purpose of the course is to identify overarching patterns that characterize the politics of these regions - and to teach students to think analytically and comparatively about these patterns.