India

◦ Explain what features of your assigned country’s government make it either a presidential system, a parliamentary system, or an authoritarian system.

India has a Parliamentary System. According to our textbook, “A Parliamentary System, the executive is actually part of the parliament. The prime minister, as she or he is usually called, gets the position by first winning election to a seat in the legislature and then being elected to the post by fellow members of parliament (MPS)” Van Belle, D. A. (2016). The president and vice president are elected by an electoral college and serve five-year terms. The prime minister, who holds more executive power than the president, recommends the Council of Ministers (or cabinet), which is then appointed by the president. “There are two houses in India’s parliament: The Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the People’s Assembly (Lok Sabhha). The dominant political party in India is the Indian National Congress Party, though the Janata Party has also had some success” Nagy, K. (2013).

◦ Discuss the political culture, primary political institutions, and major political actors in your assigned country.

The President of India is the Head of State and the Prime Minister of India is responsible for running the federal government. In India, the executive branch of government is held accountable to the legislative branch. Under this system of government, India has both President, who is Head of State and the Prime Minister, who is the Chief Executive of the executive branch. India is politically divided into 29 states and 7 territories. Its government is divided into 3 branches the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 

◦ Explain if the current governmental system is effective at providing for the needs of the country’s citizens.

I would say that the governmental system is not effective at providing for the needs of India’s citizens. India’s economic freedom score is 54.5 making its economy the 130th freest in the 2018 Index. Its overall score has increased by 1.9 point’s led by improvements in judicial effectiveness, business, freedom, government integrity, and fiscal health. “The government reformed one of its more opaque operational practices to make the auctioniong of rights to exploit state-owned resources more transparent. Corruption, underdeveloped infrastructure, and restrictive and burdensome regulatory environment, and poor financial and budget management continue to undermine overall development” India. (n.d.). Indian courts are also understaffed and lack the technology necessary to clear an enormous backlog. Officials are often caught accepting bribes, a great deal of corruption in India goes unnoticed and unpunished. Also, the government openness to foreign investment is below average. State-owned institutions dominate the financial sector, and foreign participation is limited. In public-sector banks, troubled assets account for about 10 percent of total assets. 

REFERENCES

Van Belle, D. A. (2016). A novel approach to politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.

Nagy, K. (2013). India. Our World,

India. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/india