Making sense of Kerala

A closer look at the social democratic experiment of India’s southern State

There is no country is the world where there is such extraordinary regional variation in people’s basic life chances as in India. This is true because of India’s sheer size, but also because of the dramatic differences in State-level political regimes. From the BIMARU States (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the variance in average life expectancy, well-being, education and basic dignity is dramatic. There is also a clear pattern. Broadly stated, the more democratic a State, the more developmentally inclusive. Exploring this relationship is critical to better understanding when and how democratic politics really makes a difference in people’s lives. The lessons we can draw from Kerala are especially instructive. On just about every social development indicator, Kerala leads not only all Indian States, but in terms of getting the most bang for the rupee (that is conversion rate of economic resources into tangible human benefits), it is clearly among the most successful cases of development in the world. Among middle-income countries, only Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Mauritius — all relatively small countries — come close to Kerala’s achievements.

Much as such has been made of the so-called Kerala ‘model’. But while we agree that there is something quite unique in Kerala’s achievements, we believe that the designation of a ‘model’ is misleading and detracts from a more specifically political understanding of what has transpired. Kerala’s achievements are not the result of inspired technocratic designs or brilliant leadership (though it has certainly benefited from both) but rather a historically specific constellation of democratic political forces that have secured a more inclusive and accountable political regime that can broadly be defined as social democratic. Social democratic development — in the general sense of development based on social justice by democratic means — is certainly a universally valid aim with related pillars and strategies. But the bad news is that there is no fixed ‘model’ of this that can be transferred or emulated across different contexts. The good news is that while politics and history are always messy, the fact that Kerala’s political regime was built through political contestation and that political contestation is what democracy is all about provides room for hope that other developing democracies, including other Indian States, might travel a similar path.