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Anti-Corruption Movement: A Story of the Making of the Aam Admi Party and the Interplay of Political Representation in India

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  • Aheli Chowdhury

    (Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India)

Abstract

The Aam Admi Party (AAP; Party of the Common Man) was founded as the political outcome of an anti-corruption movement in India that lasted for 18 months between 2010–2012. The anti-corruption movement, better known as the India Against Corruption Movement (IAC), demanded the passage of the Janlokpal Act, an Ombudsman body. The movement mobilized public opinion against corruption and the need for the passage of a law to address its rising incidence. The claim to eradicate corruption captured the imagination of the middle class, and threw up several questions of representation. The movement prompted public and media debates over who represented civil society, who could claim to represent the ‘people’, and asked whether parliamentary democracy was a more authentic representative of the people’s wishes vis-à-vis a people’s democracy where people expressed their opinion through direct action. This article traces various ideas of political representation within the IAC that preceded the formation of the AAP to reveal the emergence of populist representative democracy in India. It reveals the dynamic relationship forged by the movement with the media, which created a political field that challenged liberal democratic principles and legitimized popular public perception and opinion over laws and institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Aheli Chowdhury, 2019. "Anti-Corruption Movement: A Story of the Making of the Aam Admi Party and the Interplay of Political Representation in India," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 189-198.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:7:y:2019:i:3:p:189-198
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Morris Szeftel, 1998. "Misunderstanding African politics: corruption & the governance agenda," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(76), pages 221-240.
    2. Elizabeth Harrison, 2006. "Unpacking the Anti-corruption Agenda: Dilemmas for Anthropologists," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 15-29.
    3. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, 2019. "Political Representation in the Discourse and Practices of the “Party of the Common Man” in India," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 179-188.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emilie Frenkiel & Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal, 2019. "The Redistribution of Representation through Participation: Participatory Budgeting in Chengdu and Delhi," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 112-123.
    2. Petra Guasti & Brigitte Geissel, 2019. "Rethinking Representation: Representative Claims in Global Perspective," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 93-97.

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