India's Caste System on Political Essay

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Some of this welfare is built in to the system itself, as it is expected that the lowest class Indian citizens will sustain themselves on handouts, which are also built into the system itself (Pruthi, 2004). But the caste system was developed and originally implemented at a time where political considerations and representative democracies were not something to be considered, or have not even been invented as a form of government.

The political structure in India is arguably not very different from other western democracies in that a few people, whether democratically elected or not, are making decisions and changing politics of a large number of people. The culture of power and influence that revolves around the interests of corporations and money that has been built in the U.S. politically is an excellent reflection of how Indian politics are built around the influences and desires of the wealthy and powerful, and not those of the rest of the society.

The Indian power and political structure does not face much opposition from the lower classes, at least relative to how the caste system currently functions and is set up as a propagator of the status quo. Author Bailey (2009) argues that the political stratification of society extends and renews the cultural stratification.
In this way, a symbiosis of politics and culture has developed to help reinforce each other, and propagate the caste system. This is convenient for those in power, but leaves much to be desired for those who are born into the lower levels of the system. In many ways, the governments of other nations work similarly, except perhaps in not such a visible or culturally direct way. It is apparent that the caste system divides the Indian society quite dramatically, but these divisions of society are not unique or exclusive to this nation.

Over time the political climate in India will likely change as the Western democracies continue to exact a strong political influence in the nations that are affected. However, India is coming into a new era of self-development and definition and the question of whether or not the caste system will be included in the new path forward for the country remain unanswered. The cultural climate and restrictions put upon the people of India will continue to dictate the political landscape, since the caste system forms the….....

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