The Legacy of Authoritarianism in a Democracy

Abstract: Recent democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarian regimes worldwide have rekindled interest in understanding the causes and consequences of such authoritarian rule in democracies. In this paper, I study the long-run political consequences of authoritarianism in the world's largest democracy. Exploiting the unexpected timing of the authoritarian rule imposed in India in the 1970s and using a difference-in-difference (DID), triple difference (DDD), and a regression discontinuity design (RDD) estimation approach, I document a sharp decline in the then-dominant incumbent, the Indian National Congress party's political dominance in subsequent years. I also present evidence that the decline in political dominance was not at the expense of a lower voter turnout rate. Instead, a sharp rise in the number of opposition candidates contesting elections in subsequent years played an important role. Finally, I examine the enduring consequences, revealing that confidence in politicians remains low in states where the draconian policy was high.