The imagination of the secular state and religious attitudes among Indian voters

Description

Since the early part of the 1990s Indian politics have often been seen in the light of a division between religious parties with Hindu links, the Sangh Parivar (paraphrased as the Saffron Family) headed by the Bharatya Janata Party versus secular parties headed by the Indian National Congress. On the basis of data from the World Value Survey 1995-2000 this paper argues that in spite of the evident importance of religion to the political debate, simple indicators of religious position and attitudes to the democratic and secular state, do not carry much importance regarding the value structures which determine the population's political acts. - The backing for democracy is found among the voters across the political spectrum. On the other hand age old structures of caste and religious belonging are still of importance, and the verbalisation of political fights along religious values may even strengthen the impact of confessional, caste and ethnic belongings.