Voters, Institutions and Governance: A Theory and Evidence from the Indian Elections in 2004

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary attempt to understand a simple puzzle about the Indian voter: Why does a voter vote for party X or Y in an election? What parameters does s/he use to evaluate parties and their policies? Or, does s/he look at the parties through the lenses of other cultural institutions? How does s/he calculate the payoff to the society and/or to herself/himself in this momentous action? This author was amazed by the absence any substantive studies on the subject.