Brazil and India’s Economic and Political Transitions

The relationship between the strength of a country’s economy and its human development is undeniable. A poor country with fewer resources will struggle more to support citizens, but a rich country can not always guarantee a sufficient social safety net. Wealth is frequently concentrated in the hands of elites, resulting in stifling inequality that breeds turmoil seen particularly in countries with a colonial history where extensive economic development does not correspond with comparable human development, a phenomenon notable in Brazil and India. Although the two countries have different colonial inheritances with their corresponding divides and state developments, the economic powerhouses have converged to relatively stable democracies with mixed economies and large welfare states driven by the voting poor as a result of their focus on avoiding simultaneous economic and political transitions. They have been unable, however, to leverage their massive GDPs to satisfy non-elite constituents, which has resulted in defeats for historically dominant ruling parties in favor of less democratic leaders running on anti-establishment platforms.