Ballot BootCamp on Decoding India’s Election Dynamics 

With the General Elections 2024 just round the corner, the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) is launching a Ballot BootCamp on Decoding India’s Election Dynamics.
India’s election system is one of the largest, both in terms of the size of the voting pool as in terms of scope, with multiple elections at the national, state, and local levels. India is one of the largest democracies in the world, and thus its election practices are unique, and face a plethora of challenges. From the time of India’s independence to the upcoming elections this year, while the electoral system has faced challenges over the years, it has stayed resilient and independent. 
Election studies of the Indian electorate primarily focus on the election mechanics of the system. It aims to study the undercurrents and processes that lead to electoral outcomes, and seeks to understand the various needs of the voting population and the patterns in which they vote across the decades. The best way to understand the political inclinations of the Indian population is by understanding how they vote, and what are systems in place in the Constitution that allow the voting to commence freely and fairly. 
The election studies course by the Centre for Public Policy Research aims to give students an understanding of the systems in the political machinery that enable voting, as well as the various levels of elections that happen in India. It also aims to show the history of voting patterns among the various demographic groups in India and open a window into the key issues that influence Indian voters. 

 

India’s Election Course Objectives

  1. The students will understand the structures and mechanisms of the voting process at the national and sub-national levels.
  2. The students will be able to understand the history of elections in India and use that knowledge to understand ways to predict voting patterns. 
  3. The students will understand how voting affects the policies and political systems of India.

 

Application Process and Eligibility

  • Apply via the registration link available on all social media platforms and the CPPR webpage
  • Undergraduate or Graduate. It will also be open for mid-career professionals
  • The Course is also open to anyone interested in understanding the Election Dynamics in India

 

The course will be highly beneficial for

Students pursuing a degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, Election Studies and other related subjects. Policy and Election research Interns. Policy researchers & Election Analysts  working with corporate consultancies and/or public policy think tanks, nascent PhD Scholars, and anyone entering the Election Studies realm or Analysis. 

 

Course Details

  • Course Starts on April 20th and Ends on May 5th
  • Weekend sessions (Some Sessions might take place on Fridays)
  • Assignment completion is mandatory to get certification
    • Assignment is to be submitted two weeks after the final session is conducted
  • 50% attendance in the course is mandatory to get certification

COURSE PLAN

Content

        Faculty        

Duration & Timings

Introduction

  • What are elections?
  • Significance of Elections – India as an Electoral Democracy
  • Indian Democracy
Dr Reetika Sayal
2 Hours

April 20: 

3 PM – 5 PM

History of Elections in India

  • Government of India Act, 1935
  • Bicameral legislation
  • Elections in independent India
  • Key Constitutional Provisions
  • Election Commission of India
  • Different Voting Styles(FPTP vs Presidential)
Dr Reetika Sayal
1.5 Hours

April 21st: 

11 AM – 12:30 PM

Election Process in India

  • Acts & regulations for Elections in India
  • Election Practices
    • Malpractices During Elections
    • Electoral Bond Scheme and the SC Judgement
  • Delimitation, code of conduct, campaigning of parties, Election spending, Voter identification, EVMs, and Polling Stations 
  • T N Seshan and the power of Election Commission
Dr Reetika Sayal
1.5 hours

April 21st:

1 PM – 2:30 PM

Party and Electoral Systems in India

  • National, State & Unrecognized Political Parties
  • Parliamentary procedures in the formation of government, alliances & coalitions
  • Anti-Defection laws, Non-trust Votes, Issuing of Whips and reservation policies
  • Constituencies and Electoral Roll 
Dr G Gopakumar
3 Hours

April 27

10:00 AM – 1:15 PM

(15 minute break included)

Voter behaviours in India

  • Optimist Voters between 1952- 1977
  • Angry Voters between 1977 – 2002
  • Wise Voters of today
  • Some historic Polls in India and their impact (ref: Prannoy Roy & Soapriwala’s book)
Dr D Dhanuraj
2 Hours

April 28

Introduction to Psephology & Political Consultation

  • Definition and Scope of  psephology
  • History and Impact of Psephology Study in India
  • Opinion Polls and Exit Polls
  • Definition & Scope of Political Consultation
  • Political Consultation and Political Parties
  • Emergence of Political Consultation as a Profession in India
Dr G Gopakumar
3 Hours

May 4

!0:00 AM – 1:15 PM

(15 minute break included)

Trends and Factors that Influence Indian Voters

  • Conceptualising Vote Banks
  • Influence of Social Factors like Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Elections
  • Influence of the economy, national security, gender, migration and youth in Indian Elections
Dr G Gopakumar
3 Hours

May 5

10:00 AM – 1:15 PM

(15 minute break included)

Dr D Dhanuraj

Dhanuraj is the Founder-Chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), a non-profit, independent public policy think-tank based in Kochi, Kerala, India. With two decades of experience in this sector, his interest areas lie at the intersection of research and policy analysis. He is a policy researcher and commentator on urbanisation, urban mobility and infrastructure, education, retail, health, livelihood, law, public expenditure, defence and security, geo politics and election analysis, and has collaborated with state, national and international governments, organisations and institutions on several key research studies and policy recommendations. Currently, he is also the President of the Association of Public Policy Education in India (APPE), and was the Secretary General of Liberal Youth South Asia (LYSA) from 2008- 09 and Founder President and Trustee of Liberal Youth Forum of India (LYF) from 2008 to 2011

 

 

Dr G Gopakumar

Dr G GopaKumar is the former Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod. A leading political scientist and psephologist, he specialises in the areas of International Relations, Comparative Politics and Indian Politics. He has published 12 books and over 145 research articles. He was earlier Dean of Social Sciences and Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Kerala, UGC-Emeritus Fellow, ICSSR Senior Fellow, and has more than forty-one years of teaching experience in Political Science at the University level. He had also served as the Director General of the Institute of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Kerala, and as Director, V.K. Krishna Menon Study Centre for International Relations. Dr Gopa Kumar has received numerous international and national awards and fellowships like Visiting Research Fellow, University of New South Wales, Australia; Australian Studies Senior Fellow; Salzburg Fellow, Austria; UGC-Indo-French Cultural Exchange Award; Fulbright Fellowship, USA (1998 & 2002); Shastri Mobility Fellowship (2017) and visited the University of Calgary, Canada to study on “Canadian Contribution in Internationalizing Higher Education in the era of Globalization”. He was also Visiting Faculty at Claremont Graduate University, USA and University of Calgary, Canada. Dr Gopa Kumar is also a reputed political commentator on television news and a newspaper columnist where his objective and scientific political analysis is highly valued.

 

 

 Dr Reetika Syal
Dr Reetika Syal is a Senior Fellow (Governance and Education) at CPPR. She is an Assistant Professor at CHRIST (Deemed-to-be University), Bangalore, at the Department of International Studies, Political Science, and History. Previously she was Assistant Professor at JAIN (Deemed-to-be) University, Bangalore, for more than 8 years. She has also been an independent consultant for projects at Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Bangalore, and held the position of Senior Officer, Research at CPPR from October 2021 to June 2022. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands and IIT- Delhi in 2018-19, on a project on Civil Society Advocacy, her research focused on State-Civil Society Relations in Disaster Management in India. Her Ph.D in Political Science was from Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. She is a part of the Lokniti Network, at CSDS, Delhi, and her research has been a part of various elections and democracy-related studies, along with being a resource person for Lokniti’s Annual Summer School on Quantitative Data Analysis for more than a decade. Dr. Syal has extensive experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative studies including large sample opinion surveys in India on Elections and Democracy, Governance, Elementary and Higher Education, and has presented papers at many international and national conferences, along with publishing in journals and edited books.

Course Fees

  • CPPR Alumni – Rs 3,000 (+GST)
  • Students – Rs 4,000 (+ GST)
  • Professionals – Rs 5,000 (+ GST)