 Sanjay Ruparelia, Rethinking Institutional Theories of Political Moderation: The Case of Hindu Nationalism in India, 1996–2004 Did India¡¯s democratic regime moderate the politics of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during its tenure in office from 1996 to 2002? The centrist logic of India¡¯s plurality rule electoral system, parliamentary form of cabinet government, and semiconsociational federal party system compelled the BJP to moderate its official ideological position after 1996. However, the BJP circumvented these institutional constraints in various realms, manipulated the terms of discourse to its partisan advantage, and shifted the political center of gravity to the right. Institutional theories have both strengths and weaknesses in explaining the prospects and assessing the dangers of militant ethnic-religious nationalism. |