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Technological Change and Political Turnover: The Democratizing Effects of the Green Revolution in India

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  • DASGUPTA, ADITYA

Abstract

Can technological change contribute to political turnover? Influential theories suggest that technological change represents a form of creative destruction that can weaken incumbents and strengthen outsiders, leading to political turnover. This paper investigates a large-scale historical natural experiment: the impact of the green revolution on single-party dominance in India. Drawing on a theoretical framework based on models of contests, this paper argues that high-yielding variety (HYV) crops strengthened the incentives and capacity of a politically excluded group, in this case agricultural producers, to seek greater political representation. Exploiting the timing of the introduction of HYV crops, together with district-level variation in suitability for the new crop technology, instrumental variables analyses show that the green revolution played a pivotal role in the rise of agrarian opposition parties and decline of single-party dominance. The findings support theories linking technological change to political turnover, with important implications for the political economy of democratization.

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  • Dasgupta, Aditya, 2018. "Technological Change and Political Turnover: The Democratizing Effects of the Green Revolution in India," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 918-938, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:112:y:2018:i:04:p:918-938_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Callen, Mike & Gulzar, Saad & Rezaee, Arman & Shapiro, Jacob N., 2024. "Extending the formal state: the case of Pakistan's frontier crimes regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123677, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Aina Gallego & Thomas Kurer & Nikolas Schöll, 2018. "Not so disruptive after all: How workplace digitalization affects political preferences," Economics Working Papers 1623, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. Michael Callen & Saad Gulzar & Arman Rezaee & Jacob N. Shapiro, 2024. "Extending the formal state: the case of Pakistan's Frontier Crimes Regulation," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(363), pages 701-718, July.
    4. Ratnoo, Vigyan D., 2024. "Persistent effects of colonial land tenure institutions: Village-level evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Sudhanshu Joshi & Rohit Kumar Singh & Manu Sharma, 2023. "Sustainable Agri-food Supply Chain Practices: Few Empirical Evidences from a Developing Economy," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(3), pages 451-474, June.
    6. Aina Gallego & Thomas Kurer & Nikolas Schöll, 2018. "Neither Left-Behind nor Superstar: Ordinary Winners of Digitalization at the Ballot Box," Working Papers 1063, Barcelona School of Economics.
    7. Hardeep Singh Amale & Pratap Singh Birthal & Digvijay Singh Negi, 2023. "Delayed monsoon, irrigation and crop yields," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(1), pages 77-94, January.
    8. Bharadwaj, Prashant & Ali Mirza, Rinchan, 2019. "Displacement and development: Long term impacts of population transfer in India," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-1.

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