Institutional Decline in the Neo-Liberal Regime: Notes from India-Edited by Yogesh Pratap Singh and Afroz Alam

Globally, the rise of populist leaders and regimes has posed serious challenges not only to established democratic norms but also to the independence of institutions. The case of India is no different. A symptomatic decline in the working of democratic institutions in India may be evident in recent times. There are clear attempts to disregard the vital institutions of democracy by employing the full armoury of abolition, packing, threatening, bribing, hijacking or even dissolving the institutions to ensure their assured compliance. The empirical evidence can be observed in the excessive executive interference in the working of constitutional institutions like the Parliament; Supreme Court; Election Commission of India; CAG; statutory key institutions/agencies such as the CBI, ED, CVC, RBI, NSSO, CIC and so on. Institutional Decline in the Neo-Liberal Regime brings together scholars attempting to understand the functioning of some vital democratic institutions of India.