The Politics of Preference: Democratic Institutions and Affirmative Action in the United States and India

243 Pages·1997·16.93 MB·English

by  Sunita Parikh

The Politics of Preference

The Politics of Preference
Democratic Institutions and Affirmative Action
in the United States and India
Sunita Parikh
Ann Arbor
THE li.NIvERSITY OF MICHIGAN PREss
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 1997
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Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
@> Printed on acid-free paper
2000 1999 1998 1997 432
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise,
without the written permission of the publisher.
A elP catalog record for this book is availablefron! the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parikh, Sunita, 1959-
The politics of preference: democratic institutions and
affirmative action in the United States and India / Sunita Parikh.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-472-10745-3 (cloth: acid-free paper)
I. Race discrimination-Government policy-United States-History.
2. Minorities-Government policy-United States-History.
3. Affirmative action programs-Government policy-United States
History. 4. United States-Politics and government-1945-1989.
5. United States-Politics and government-I 989- 6. Race
discrimination-Government policy-India-History. 7. Minorities
Government policy-India-History. 8. Affirmative action programs
Government policy-India-History. 9. India-Politics and
government--1857-1919. 10. India-Politics and
government-1919-1947. II. India-Politics and government-1947-
I. Title.
HTI523.P27 1996
305.8'00973-dc20 96-25176
CIP
ISBN13 978-0-472-10745-2 (cloth)
ISBN13 978-0-472-02742-2 (electronic)
For My Parents
In Memory of
Chandulal P. Parikh and Bhanu K. Parikh

Acknowledgments
I began this project nearly ten years ago as a dissertation proposal because
I was interested in understanding why similar solutions to social problems
arise in ethnically heterogenous polities that are otherwise quite different.
In the middle 1980s, affirmative action was a moribund topic in the United
States but full oflife and controversy in India. Today it is practically a set
tled issue in India and an extremely lively one in the United States. In both
countries, however, we know much more about the conventional wisdom
that justifies or attacks affirmative action than we do about its political his
tory. This book is designed to provide that knowledge.
In the ten years I have worked on affirmative action, I have racked up
many debts. My dissertation committee did its best to help me produce a
strong thesis, and my ultimate lack of satisfaction with it was due to my
limitations, not theirs. Susanne Rudolph has been a strong and supportive
mentor since my college days, and her standards for case research have
remained with me even after her direct influence ended. Theda Skocpol
showed me that truly comparative work is not only possible but crucial.
William Julius Wilson provided steady encouragement when I doubted the
wisdom of pursuing a controversial topic, as much through his example as
his words. Russell Hardin helped me to bring some of the standards of
positive theory to a comparative historical analysis and pointed me toward
the direction I eventually adopted in the book.
The University of Chicago has always provided a singular environ
ment for learning. The Department of Political Science has managed to
house almost as many theoretical approaches as faculty members, which
means that students frequently become confused, but they also learn a
wide array of methods to tackle a research question. I gathered very dif
ferent ideas from Lloyd Rudolph, Duncan Snidal, and Jon Elster, but I am
indebted to all three. Wilder House, under the direction of Theda Skocpol
and then David Laitin, provided a research environment that cut across
disciplines, hierarchies, and ideologies and forced me to think critically;
the rapport that the inhabitants developed has produced a huge crop of
excellent junior (and now senior) scholars. You know who you are.
Vlll Acknowledgments
At Columbia I have been fortunate to have had wonderful junior col
leagues who took an interest in my work, including Edward Mansfield,
David Spiro, Gregory Gause, Sharyn O'HaJloran, and David Epstein.
Robert Shapiro, Ira Katnelson, and Scott Adler read drafts of the manu
script and offered valuable suggestions. Chuck Cameron in particular has
showed great patience and support over the last six years. He has helped
me learn positive theory and rational choice, read numerous drafts of
chapters and papers, and never despaired (at least outwardly) at my
repeated inability to find the Nash equilibria in a simple matrix. Outside
Columbia, John Ferejohn, Andy Rutten, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, and
Barry Weingast encouraged me to combine comparative and rational
choice methods; I benefited greatly from all our conversations.
Three foundations have been instrumental in making the realization
of this project possible. The Rockefeller Foundation provided dissertation
support when few other sources were available due to the controversial
nature of the work. The Spencer Foundation, under the presidency of the
late Lawrence Cremin, provided an almost perfect work environment in
which I learned about education, affirmative action, and much more. The
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is supporting a project on political
violence that has turned out to bear directly on the issue of preference poli
cies. The Hoover Institution graciously provided office space and other
resources for me as a Visiting Scholar in 1992 and as a National Fellow in
1995-96.
In India, many people were generous with their time, attention, and
resources. In addition to those cited as interviewees, several other scholars,
politicians, and civil servants in Gujarat and Karnataka provided infor
mation that helped shape this book. Andre BeteiJle encouraged me to
undertake the comparison when few others were enthusiastic, and he
shared his own comparative work in progress to help me along. Achyut
Yagnik in Ahmedabad has been a friend, mentor, and invaluable resource,
and he and his colleagues at SETU have taken wonderful care of me for
over a decade. In Bangalore, Narendar Pani and Jamuna Rao have gener
ously shared with me their knowledge, research, and connections. From
England, James Manor graciously provided introductions and contacts.
My aunts, uncle, cousins, nieces, and nephews have supplied room and
board, transportation, research contacts, and frequent reality checks.
A few people deserve special mention. Roger Noll read every draft of
the manuscript. and his critiques made me strive to improve it as much as
I could. Edwin Amenta read the dissertation and early drafts of the manu
script, endured endless conversations, and provided support. Robyn Noll
never read a word but gave me encouragement lunches, and dinner parties
whenever I needed them. Mari Terzaghi spent many hours providing the
Acknowledgments ix
support, criticism, and above all insight that made me stay on track. Alfred
Darnell has been my best friend for the last fifteen years, and his intellec
tual companionship has featured everything from conceptual discussions
to charts and graphs. I suppose I could have done it without them, but I
am glad I didn't have to make the attempt. The flaws that remain, despite
their best efforts, are mine.
This book is dedicated to four people. My mother, Nellie Bass, kin
dled my interest in politics and social issues at an early age and encouraged
me to choose academics as a career when most thought I was misguided.
My father, Arvind Parikh, has given me support and understanding to a
remarkable degree. My grandfather would not have known what the term
role model meant, but that's what he was for his family. He packed more
into any given year than most of us manage in a decade, and he set impos
sibly high standards, many of which he achieved. My aunt's strength and
humanity were wedded to an unquenchable desire for learning and adven
ture that she passed on to her daughters, nieces, and grandchildren. I think
both would have enjoyed the spirit of this book.