Political Parties and Voting Behavior, Pressure group, Welfare State

Reservation policy, labour welfare legislation and public interest litigation all exist because India organised itself as a welfare state, and every one of them was shaped, at some point, by a political party's manifesto or a pressure group's campaign. This topic studies the political institution the way sociology studies any institution — not as constitutional law does, through the lens of powers and procedure, but through the lens of how people actually organise, vote and pressure government into acting.

In two minutes

Political institutions organise how power is exercised and legitimised in society; political parties channel competing interests into government, voting behaviour reflects patterns of social identity and interest, pressure groups influence policy without seeking office themselves, and the welfare state commits government to actively securing citizens' social and economic wellbeing.

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