Policy Watch: special issue – December 2020

This special issue of Policy Watch features one article under each key theme. Under Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions, Prof. Somnath Ghosh explores the rise of Cultural Populism, a continuation of his earlier work on global populism. He extends the discourse by adding cultural populism to the three existing political ideologies: nationalism, authoritarianism, and majoritarianism. The article analyses how demagoguery and references to a nation’s darker social history are used for political gain. Readers are also directed to Aryan D Rozario’s piece on the Socio-Psychological Origins of Fascism.

For Governance and Development, a case study by Himakiran documents civil society efforts to assist migrant workers during the Covid lockdown in Tamil Nadu. The article highlights collaboration between NGOs and district administrations, aided by technology. Additionally, a reprint of Vijay Mahajan’s State of the States article examines Indian federalism, focusing on the distribution of funds, functions, and functionaries.

In the Growth with Employment section, Dr. Rakesh Malhotra presents the Rajiv Aajevika Samvardhan Abhiyan, a livelihood initiative in 22 districts for returned migrants and rural residents, focusing on micro-enterprise development.

The Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainability theme includes work by Jeet Singh on the link between biodiversity loss and zoonotic diseases. A collaborative article by Singh and Mahajan proposes jal, jangal, jameen as a strategy for both environmental regeneration and job creation. Singh also contributes a case study from Uttarakhand on the degradation of Common Property Resources (CPRs) due to weakened community institutions, a trend persisting since colonial times.

Finally, under India’s Place in the World, Advocate Yogesh Sharma analyses the challenges facing the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially due to global trade wars and protectionist practices like non-tariff barriers.

This issue provides a comprehensive look at contemporary challenges and responses across governance, environment, economy, and international relations.