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| ==Origins== | ==Origins== | ||
| The term '''vote-bank''' was first used by noted Indian ], ]<ref name=first>{{cite journal | author = Ralph Grillo; Rodney Needham |date=February 2000 | title = Obituary: M. N. Srinivas | journal = Anthropology Today | volume = 16 | issue = 1 | pages = 22 | issn = 0268540X | jstor = |
The term '''vote-bank''' was first used by noted Indian ], ]<ref name=first>{{cite journal | author = Ralph Grillo; Rodney Needham |date=February 2000 | title = Obituary: M. N. Srinivas | journal = Anthropology Today | volume = 16 | issue = 1 | pages = 22 | issn = 0268540X | jstor = 2678199 | doi = 10.1111/1467-8322.00007}}</ref> (who also coined the terms '']'' and ''dominant caste''), in his 1955 paper entitled ''The Social System of a Mysore Village''.<ref name=MNS>{{cite book | last = Srinivas | first = M. N. | authorlink = M. N. Srinivas | editor = McKim Marriott | title = Village India: studies in the little community | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | pages = 1–35 | chapter = The Social System of a Mysore Village | year = 1955|display-authors=etal}}</ref> He used it in the context of political influence exerted by a patron over a client. Later, the expression was used by ], a professor of ] at the ], in his 1959 book ''Politics and Social Change'',<ref name=FGB>{{cite book | last = Bailey | first = F. G. | title = Politics and Social Change | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 1959}}</ref> to refer to the ] influence of the ] leader. This is the usage that has since become popular. | ||
| Though the term originally referred to voting along caste lines, it was soon expanded to describe votebanks based on other community characteristics, such as ] and ]. | Though the term originally referred to voting along caste lines, it was soon expanded to describe votebanks based on other community characteristics, such as ] and ]. | ||
Revision as of 18:48, 20 November 2015
A votebank (also spelled vote-bank or vote bank) is a loyal bloc of voters from a single community, who consistently back a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections. Such behaviour is often the result of an expectation of real or imagined benefits from the political formations, often at the cost of other communities.
Votebank politics is the practice of creating and maintaining votebanks through divisive policies. As this brand of politics encourages voters to vote on the basis of narrow communal considerations, often against their better judgement, it is considered harmful to the principles of representative democracy.
The term was coined in India, where the practice of votebank politics is rampant. Since then, it has gained currency in other Asian countries with a significant English-speaking population.
Vote bank is a derogatory term used to describe plurality in politics.
Origins
The term vote-bank was first used by noted Indian sociologist, M. N. Srinivas (who also coined the terms Sanskritisation and dominant caste), in his 1955 paper entitled The Social System of a Mysore Village. He used it in the context of political influence exerted by a patron over a client. Later, the expression was used by F. G. Bailey, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, in his 1959 book Politics and Social Change, to refer to the electoral influence of the caste leader. This is the usage that has since become popular.
Though the term originally referred to voting along caste lines, it was soon expanded to describe votebanks based on other community characteristics, such as religion and language.
See also
- Client politics
- Constituency
- Indian politics
- Identity politics
- Electoral system
- Political campaigning
- Social disintegration
- Blocks of Five
- Red states and blue states
References
- Ralph Grillo; Rodney Needham (February 2000). "Obituary: M. N. Srinivas". Anthropology Today. 16 (1): 22. doi:10.1111/1467-8322.00007. ISSN 0268-540X. JSTOR 2678199.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Srinivas, M. N.; et al. (1955). "The Social System of a Mysore Village". In McKim Marriott (ed.). Village India: studies in the little community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–35.
- Bailey, F. G. (1959). Politics and Social Change. Berkeley: University of California Press.