New Books in Political Science

Defying the dire predictions that attended its birth as an
independent nation-state in 1947, the Indian republic is more than
seventy-five years old. And yet, it is a place where criticisms of
actually existing democracy are intense and strident. In recent years,
the trope of victimized people suffering at the hands of a predatory
elite and political dysfunction has reaped rewards. The populist
language of redemptive outsiders pledging to combat a corrupt system has
been harnessed in successful electoral campaigns, like the majoritarian
regime of Narendra Modi.

Tracking the shift from postcolonial nation-building to
democracy-rebuilding, Srirupa Roy shows how the political outsider came
to be a valorized figure of late-twentieth century Indian democracy,
tasked with the urgent mission of curing a broken democratic system—what
Roy terms "curative democracy." Drawing attention to an ambivalent
political field that folds together authoritarian and democratic forms
and ideas, The Political Outsider: Indian Democracy and the Lineages of Populism (Stanford University Press, 2024) argues
that the long 1970s were a crucial turning point in Indian politics,
when democracy was suspended by the declaration of a national emergency
and then subsequently restored. By tracing the crooked line that
connects the ideals of curative democracy and the political outsider to
the populist antipolitics and strongman authoritarian rule in present
times, this book revisits democracy from India, and asks what the Indian experience tells us about the trajectory of global democratic politics.

Dhiren Swain is a MIPA PhD Candidate, affiliated to The University of
Melbourne and IIT Madras. His current research focuses on the Urban
Policies and Community Politics in India and South Asia.

He can be reached at kishoredhiren8@gmail.com
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Between 1990 and 2020, women candidates won only 6% of the world’s presidential races. How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America (Temple University Press, 2026) explains the factors, strategies, and perceptions
that help (or hinder) women to democratically access their country’s
highest political office. Dr. Catherine Reyes-Housholder introduces a
theory of gendered incentives and perceived potential to reveal why a
political party would break with tradition and nominate a woman. She
also shows how citizens respond when women candidates are running in
incumbent parties or competing to displace those in power.

Drawing on comparative research on the presidency and gender, How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America
examines the successful campaigns of Michelle Bachelet in Chile and
Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, as well as why Blanca Ovelar lost her
presidential race in Paraguay. Dr. Reyes-Housholder’s findings indicate
that voter sexism is not a major factor; however, women do not triumph
in these elections in the same ways that men do. Rather, the central
unknown factor behind women’s victories is how they become candidates of
major parties—and gender profoundly influences who parties nominate.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. 
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There is a widespread sense throughout the developed world that
progress towards a better society has stalled. Many countries, including
the UK, have experienced persistent economic stagnation accompanied by
declining trust in institutions. Governments are struggling to respond
not only to traditional economic problems but also to newer challenges
posed by climate change, migration and technological change. Challenging Inequalities: How We Got Stuck and Where We Go Next (Princeton
University Press, 2026), written by Paul Johnson and coauthors, drawing
on the findings of the six-year IFS Deaton Review, connects these
conditions to inequality—inequality not just of income and wealth but of
health, political participation and opportunity. It not only offers a
detailed analysis of the different forms of inequalities but also an
in-depth consideration of why inequalities matter, how they have changed
and what can, or should, be done about them.

The book explains
the enduring effects of early life experiences and education and
examines the trends in employment and earnings over recent decades. It
argues that economic stagnation since the financial crises of 2008–2009
has exposed inequalities originating in the 1980s. Not only have incomes
stagnated, but so has progress towards reducing health inequalities and
dealing with inequalities across gender, ethnicity, geography, age and
educational level. The combination of earnings inequality and economic
stagnation has led to the growing importance of wealth, the increasing
concentration of economic power in an older generation and a decline in
social mobility. Economic inequalities have also resulted directly in
dangerous differences between regions and in political power across
groups.

The need to address inequality has never been more urgent. Challenging Inequalities offers
a road map for how we have arrived at such a perilous spot—and how we
can change course to achieve better outcomes for all.

Paul Johnson
is provost of the Queen’s College, University of Oxford, and former
director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). He is the author of
the Sunday Times bestseller Follow the Money.

Morteza Hajizadeh
is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New
Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory;
Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies;
18th
and 19th Century British Literature.
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin, at 73 years old, is still very much alive, yet the “After Putin” conversation is an active one inside and outside of Russia. What could come next and how to think about that question? My guest is Julian G. Waller, a political scientist at George Washington University and author of a recent Foreign Affairs article “After Putin: Russia’s Coming Succession Crisis.” In our discussion, Waller anchors the “After Putin” question in historical context, as to how succession played out after Stalin’s death in the 1953. And we talk about how the current political environment in Moscow, shaped by Putin’s protracted war in Ukraine, is informing the “After Putin” discussion. Could a revolutionary scenario play out? How bodily safe is Putin? Waller is author of Autocrats Can't Always Get What They Want: State Institutions and Autonomy under Authoritarianism (University of Michigan Press, 2024).
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Purges: How Dictators Fight to Survive
(Cornell University Press, 2026) by Dr. Edward Goldring delves into one
of the key tactics that autocrats deploy to maintain power: the removal
of individuals from within the regime.

From Kim Jong Un's
execution of his uncle to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's removal of over a
hundred Turkish generals, purges bear significant consequences for the
survival and endurance of autocrats. Yet much remains unknown about why
dictators use purges and whether they achieve their intended effects.

Drawing
on an original global dataset on civilian and military elite purges in
dictatorships in addition to case studies spanning North and South Korea
as well as Turkey, Dr. Goldring examines the logic behind purges and
their consequences. He shows that dictators purge to consolidate power,
punish disloyalty, and scapegoat elites to alleviate popular threats.
But even as purges help dictators consolidate power early in their
tenure, purges actually weaken
their position when they have been in power for a long time, prompting
pushback. In the face of an increasing global shift toward authoritarian
norms, Purges offers critical insight into how autocrats maintain—and sometimes lose—power.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science