Indian government modelled on the USA

[Elidor]

Let's say that out POD is that Nehru studies in America rather than Britain and the American people and American government throughly impresses Nehru, and he begins to see American federalism as a way of accomodating diverse religons and cultures in India. And Let's assume that he can convince potential muslim seperatists that Muslim-majority states will have a great amount of power at the state level and in the senate, making it impossible for the weak federal government to act against their interests. Nehru might also get leverage from rabid anti-colonists who hate the UK and anything associated with it -- like the Westminster system


Will such a suggestion prevent the formation of OTL Pakistan?

Will India be more or less prosperous TTL?

Will some states try to seceed later on?

Or does this require an earlier POD / ASB intervention ?

 

[Jape]

Interesting idea though the issue of Muslim opinion is a lot easier to solve than you might think - the 1936 India Act introduced a complicated system of limited home rule to the Raj and the Indian National Congress swept the board, with Jinnah's Muslim League being in second-place even in many muslim areas - however come WWII this pseudo-government was not involved in the decision to bring whole British Empire into the war and the INC boycotted elections and its limited admin roles - this huge hole was filled by other organised political groups, the Muslim League in particular. It was INC absenteeism that allowed Jinnah a national stage and paved the way for Pakistan.

Really a little more tact on the Viceroy's part come *WWII would greatly aid a united India.

I quite like the idea of Nehru looking the USA for inspiration but he would be a lone voice, most Indian leaders were Anglophiles (excluding the whole ruled from England 'thing') due to being part of the growing middle-class obviously heavily influenced by Britain. Not to mention the British had a major role in shaping the Indian State - still very interesting I'd like to see some ways of making this possible

 

[Hendryk]

Judging by the way that all the Third World countries who modelled their institutions after the US have fared, within a few years a strongman would have taken over and after that the country would have gone through an endless cycle of populist rabble-rousing and military coups.

 

[Elidor]

Judging by the way that all the Third World countries who modelled their institutions after the US have fared, within a few years a strongman would have taken over and after that the country would have gone through an endless cycle of populist rabble-rousing and military coups.

I agree the US system hasn't been a worldwide suceess.

But, to be fair to India, many people predicted that OTL Indian democracy would collapse as well, with a strongman taking power but it never happened. And, on the other side of the equation, many British-style governments have been brought down by coups as well-- we need to look no further than India's neighbors in this case. In the end, it matters how much or how little of a democratic tradition a country has rather than the system of government. India, it seems, has just enough to pull it off.

Interesting idea though the issue of Muslim opinion is a lot easier to solve than you might think - the 1936 India Act introduced a complicated system of limited home rule to the Raj and the Indian National Congress swept the board, with Jinnah's Muslim League being in second-place even in many muslim areas - however come WWII this pseudo-government was not involved in the decision to bring whole British Empire into the war and the INC boycotted elections and its limited admin roles - this huge hole was filled by other organised political groups, the Muslim League in particular. It was INC absenteeism that allowed Jinnah a national stage and paved the way for Pakistan.

Really a little more tact on the Viceroy's part come *WWII would greatly aid a united India.

Thanks for the info. The butterflies might very well change the circumstances concerning Indian entry into WWII

I quite like the idea of Nehru looking the USA for inspiration but he would be a lone voice, most Indian leaders were Anglophiles (excluding the whole ruled from England 'thing') due to being part of the growing middle-class obviously heavily influenced by Britain. Not to mention the British had a major role in shaping the Indian State - still very interesting I'd like to see some ways of making this possible

Yeah, now that is a big challenge. Indian immigrants/refugees in the USA can perhaps influence the Indian cause but there weren't that many in this time period. Perhaps America welcomes Indian political refugees fleeing the Raj in greater numbers TTL?

Or another way to do it would be to delay Indian immigration by some time? Churchill staying in power, and publicly voicing his rather disdainful attitude towards Indians would make many leaders question their Anglophilia. American calls for decolonization will then be very well recieved by Indians.

 

[C.Cain]

The problem with the American system is twofold, imho.

First: It evolved in it's own context and sort of works in said context.
Second: It's not really that good in the first place.

The second point is mostly due to the fact that the American system and institutions still have quirks that aren't very smart to begin with; unless you see it in the context in which they were introduced.

Take the Electoral College for instance. Giving smaller states, that may or may not be populated by certain religious groups, disproportionate amount of influence might not go down well with the rest of the states. But in the context of US history that system made at least some sense.

Or the first-pass-the-post system that's in place even before the Electoral College (except for Nebraska and Maine).

Doesn't sound like a good idea to have two mechanisms in place which can result in putting a government into office that's not backed by the majority of the population.

So yeah, federalism might be a good idea for India, but merely using a context specific evolved and jury-rigged system from another nation is not the best possible way to achieve it.