The Unequal Republic and the Egalitarian State: Democracy, Authoritarianism, and the Politics of Redistribution in India and China

In this conversation with Professor Vamsi Vakulabharanam, we explore the relationship between democracy and economic inequality by examining the divergenttrajectories of China and India, as detailed in his recently published book, Class and Inequality in China andIndia, 1950-2010 (Oxford University Press, 2024). Through a comparative lens, Vamsi probes how political regimes—one authoritarian, the other democratic—shaped theeconomic responses to inequality in each country.

While both nations began their postcolonial histories with ambitious visions of development, their political systems produced markedly different outcomes. In India, democraticgovernance allowed for broad participation but was also shaped by elite consensus.Post-independence reforms, though grounded in democratic ideals, often took a top-down form that prioritized the interests of rural capitalists and dominant castes. This constrained the potential for deep structural transformation,despite the formal mechanisms of political inclusion.

China, on the other hand, undertook radical redistributive measures—land reforms, massliteracy campaigns, grassroots healthcare programs, and gender-focused initiatives—under an authoritarian regime that bypassed electoral accountability but implemented egalitarian policies more decisively. These interventions, Vamsi argues, laid a durable foundation for China’s latereconomic growth and relative success in reducing inequality.

Rather than viewing democracy as inherently egalitarian, Vamsi invites us to consider how democratic systems can reproduce hierarchies if they are not grounded in strongredistributive commitments. By situating economic shifts within their political contexts, Vamsi offers a nuanced view of democracy—not as an automatic guarantor of equality, but as a contested terrain where class interests and institutional design deeply influence economic outcomes. This conversation reframes the question: not simply whether democracy matters for development, but what kind of democracy can enable just and equitable economicfutures.