Postcolonial and Post-Soviet Experiences of Constitution-making

There has largely been a consensus among comparative political scientists regarding the relevance of a participatory and transparent democratic constitution-making process in democratic transition and consolidation. However, there are fewer attempts to see any linkage between postcolonial India and post-Soviet processes of democracy-building. Questions related to the differences or similarities between the two contexts have not received much attention, especially from the scholars of the Global South. This article attempts to explain such interlinkages between the Russian and Indian case. Though the process of democracy-building started much earlier in the case of India, certain parallels or complexities can be identified through a comparative analysis of the two cases. The study draws on secondary literature to substantiate the arguments. It attempts to argue that in case of India, the idea of constitution-making was largely driven by the logic of an alternative collective rationality through deliberation and accommodation, whereas in case of Russia it was a symbol of implementing the already dominant socio-economic model without following a process of deliberations among various sociopolitical groups.