1 Setback for India’s grand old party (BBC) Are India's state election results a blow to Rahul Gandhi's bid to become a truly national leader and bolster the flagging fortunes of his Congress party? On the face of it, it does seem so. The party has fared abysmally in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. This after the party heir-apparent and prime minister-in-waiting toured the length and breadth of the state over three months, speaking at over 200 campaign meetings.
All in all, despite a brave face put up by its leaders, it has been a dismal performance by India's Grand Old Party. So what does this performance tell us about Mr Gandhi and his party? For one, say analysts, it shows that when your party-led federal government is battered by allegations of corruption, indecisiveness, and stasis, unleashing a relatively young and sophisticated scion of the country's most famous dynasty on the campaign no longer guarantees votes in today's restless and aspirational India.
The stranglehold of the dynasty has led to the emasculation of local leaders and feeble party networks. In today's India, centralisation no longer works as political power has devolved to regional leaders and parties. Congress, analysts believe, needs to foster and empower local leaders, but it is difficult to see that happening under the overwhelming aura of the dynasty and the preening obeisance of party rank and file.
The results in Uttar Pradesh also tell us something about the way India is evolving. For one, it points to the unfettered growth of regional parties. It also means voters are no longer satisfied with paltry patronage. They demand more. They are less likely to turn a blind eye to corruption, which they are inured to. And no party, this election proves, can take voters for granted in today's India. Indian elections, as political scientist Vivek Prahladan says, are now being decided on how parties successfully link the "politics of belonging (identity) and the politics of belongings (offerings from the welfare state)".
2 UK rethinks aid to India (BBC) Britain's big aid programme in India is under scrutiny as never before. Critics say that India should be able to fund its own development, since it has nuclear weapons and a space programme. The focus of Britain's large aid programme to India is changing so that within two years, half of it will go into private sector investment. Britain is the largest bilateral donor, giving $454m a year. This is nine times as large as US aid to India.
The programme has come under increased scrutiny - including from the Commons international development committee, who said that the aid should be "fundamentally changed". There were fresh attacks last month when it emerged that International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell had appeared to link possible arms sales to the aid programme. In the event India chose to negotiate with France, not Britain, for a major contract to supply fighter jets.
3 Inequality time bomb (The Guardian) It is a paradox of the history of British migration that, while the first generation of postwar black immigrants came to this country to work, unemployment among their children and grandchildren is stubbornly high. Figures just received from the Labour Force Survey reveal that unemployment among young black people (aged 16-24) is a shocking 44% – over twice the rate of their white counterparts, of whom 20% are jobless.
Black and Asian migrants after the war helped rebuild the economy: working in factories; doing the night shifts; working on the railways and driving the buses. And a generation of West Indian women made a contribution to the health service that has never been properly celebrated. One of the causes of high black unemployment is shared by working class males whatever their colour. Structural changes in the economy mean that the type of blue-collar jobs that the first generation of migrants did no longer exists.
There is anecdotal evidence that black people emerging from university with the same qualifications as their white peers find it much more difficult to get employment. Lack of qualifications alone does not account for this level of unemployment. What is clear is that this recession is hitting ethnic minorities disproportionately hard. And the figures can only get worse. In recent decades black people have made advances in all kinds of employment. But the Americans have a saying: "Last to be hired, first to be fired". This may be reflected in some of the racial disparities that are emerging.
The more unequal a society, the more unstable it is. And inequality with a racial dimension risks creating a time bomb. The immediate response to last summer's riots was (quite correctly) a call to restore order. But these figures are not irrelevant. Policymakers cannot afford to ignore black unemployment.
4 Rediscovery of character (The New York Times) The obituaries for James Q. Wilson, the eminent social scientist, generally emphasized his “broken windows” theory on how to reduce crime. That’s natural. This strategy, which contributed to the recent reduction in crime rates, was his most tangible legacy. When Wilson wrote about character and virtue, he didn’t mean anything high flown or theocratic. It was just the basics, befitting a man who grew up in the middle-class suburbs of Los Angeles in the 1940s: Behave in a balanced way. Think about the long-term consequences of your actions. Cooperate. Be decent.
He did not believe that virtue was inculcated by prayer in schools. It was habituated by practicing good manners, by being dependable, punctual and responsible day by day. When Wilson started talking about character, he was surprised that many in the academy regarded him as an archconservative. Why should character talk be conservative? Wilson was not a philosopher. He was a social scientist. He just understood that people are moral judgers and moral actors, and he reintegrated the vocabulary of character into discussions of everyday life.
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