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Civic Infrastructure and Political Mobilization: Evidence from Urban India

Author

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  • Yatish Arya

    (Ashoka University)

  • Anisha Garg

    (University of Waarwick)

Abstract

Can civic infrastructure shape political competition? We study public parks in Delhi, combining electoral returns with novel data on the RSS, a Hindu nationalist organization closely associated with the BJP. Using predetermined recreational land allocations from the 1962 Master Plan as an instrument for park access, we find that a one-standard-deviation increase raises the BJP-led alliance’s (BJP+) vote share by 1.92 percentage points and increases RSS presence. Yet this advantage is not fixed: across four Delhi elections from 2008 to 2020, the relationship between park access and BJP+ vote share is positive in three but weakens sharply in 2013, when the park-related advantage shifts toward the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which emerged from an anti-corruption movement that mobilized through public spaces. The findings suggest that civic infrastructure lowers the spatial costs of political organization, benefiting actors able to mobilize through it.

Suggested Citation

  • Yatish Arya & Anisha Garg, 2026. "Civic Infrastructure and Political Mobilization: Evidence from Urban India," Working Papers 167, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ash:wpaper:167
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    File URL: https://dp.ashoka.edu.in/ash/wpaper/paper167_0.pdf
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