Patronage Network,Identity Mobilization,and Ethnic Violence:A Political Explanation Of Hindu-Muslim Violence In India

India is the largest developing and consolidated democracy in the world in the western democracy discourse,but the violence of Hindu—Muslim is a scar on the consolidated democracy.Why violence occurs between Hindu group and Muslim group?Why is the intensity of violence stronger and long duration longer in some places relative to other places?Why did Hindu—Muslim violence rise suddenly in the mid-1980s and continued to intensify in the 1990s?Hindu—Muslim violence in India has risen in recent years.However,there are some or all limitations in the existing research on this:the perspective of elitist research cannot explain the polarization of the lower people.From the perspective of the common people,it is easy to overlook the penetration of state power into society,and the perspective of the country-society interaction trying to combine the above two just focus on hte microcosmic operation of the patronage network,which cannot incorporate the interaction between the political elite and the common people into the process of macroscopic political development,and provide a panoramic and dynamic explanation mechanism of the occurrence and intensification of violence in India and its change in the degree and scope of different periods.By contrast,a cross-temporal examination of the structural change of the Indian patronage network can better illustrate the interactive relationship between electoral clientelism,identity mobilization,and Hindu—Muslim violence,thereby provides a comprehensive explanation combining Macroeconomic change and micro-mechanism of Hindu-Muslim violence in India.This paper thinks that patronage network is an informal system to maintain the effective operation of India's patronage democracy,and is a "power"link for the exchange of votes and public goods.The structure of the patronage network affects the clientelism strategy of party in electoral campaign,and ethnic identity is an important object of electoral clientelism.Violence is the most direct means of distinguishing ethnic identity.Therefore,the structure of the patronage network directly affects ethnic violence through the mobilization of ethnic identity.Specifically,the monolithic patronage network formed in the early days of independence inhibited the politicization of ethnic identity.Hinduism parties can integrate into mainstream politics and receive material favors.They do not need incite violence for identity mobilization.And even if violence is incited,on the one hand,it will not be able to obtain a sufficient mass base,and on the other hand it will be strongly suppressed by the government.After Nehru's death,Indira and her son's efforts to recreate a monolithic patronage network weakened the organizational foundation of the National Congress Party.The religious turn in the election campaign strategy has led to the politicization of religious identity.The loosening of the patronage network and the mobilization of Hindu identities led to the rise of Hindu-Muslim violence.The INC's state government with the extreme weakened power did not stop violence in a timely manner.During the period of the diversified patronage network of the coalition government,the localization of federal politics led to the fierce competition in the election of various political parties,and the mobilization of ethnic identities became the main political party mobilization strategy.Hindu-Muslim violence in India has continued to increase.