Over the last decade, election campaigns in India have undergone a dramatic shift. Political parties increasingly rely on political consulting firms, social media volunteers, pollsters, data-driven insights and hashtag wars to mobilise voters. What is driving these changes in the landscape of electioneering? The Backstage of Democracy takes readers to the hidden arena of strategising and deliberations that take place between politicians and a new cabal of political professionals as they organise election campaigns in India. The book argues that these changes are not reducible to a story of technological innovations alone. Rather, they are indicative of a new political culture where ideas of political expertise, the distribution of power within parties and citizens’ attitudes towards political participation have undergone a profound change. Marshalling an eclectic range of data sources, the book breaks new ground on how we understand the trajectory and workings of India’s electoral and party politics.

Amogh Dhar Sharma is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford. His research interests include electoral politics, political communication, and public opinion in South Asia.