Cleavages, Party Organization, and Regional Parties in India

This article explores the institutional conditions behind the electoral rise of regional parties in Indian states. I argue that in regions where national parties are less organized, voters are more likely to support regional parties. This organizational weakness is initially affected by regionally-based social cleavages, which undermine the internal cohesion of national parties. A nationalized party platform requiring all regional branches to coordinate under a shared agenda struggles to address these cleavages. Finally, regional-level politicians may defect from national parties and align with regional parties that better represent their constituents. Using path analysis, I test these claims, and the results support my hypotheses.