Traditional theories about how a state achieves a monopoly of violence are becoming increasingly strained as different forms of democracy have spread across the globe, and as shifting international norms change what is considered legitimate state action. This article assesses five state responses to political violence in India (military, human rights, media, policing, and preventive policy) to argue that India's growing domestic need to address demands for human security and internationalized need to support human rights underpin its evolving efforts to maintain legitimacy and secure a Weberian monopoly of violence in an internationalized political environment.
Key Messages
Traditional theories of how a state secures a monopoly of violence are strained as democracy spreads and norms of legitimate state action shift.
Five Indian state responses to political violence (military, human rights, media, policing, and preventive policy) reveal how legitimacy is contested.
India's pursuit of a Weberian monopoly of violence is reshaped by domestic human-security demands and international human-rights pressure.
Research Topics
violencedemocracyIndiastate monopolydeveloping countries
Citation
Jason Miklian. "Monopolies of Violence in Developing Democracies: Emerging Evidence from India." SSRN Working Paper, 2016.
@article{miklian2016_monopolies_of_violence_in_deve,
title = {Monopolies of Violence in Developing Democracies: Emerging Evidence from India},
author = {Miklian, Jason},
journal = {SSRN Working Paper},
year = {2016},
url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2854224}
}