But that is far removed from reality and the nature of its ruling party. The Congress Party, to paraphrase Brown University’s Richard Snyder, resembles a “neo-patrilineal dictatorship,” in which “[p]eople get goodies for being close to the ruler.”
如果说定期选举是民主的唯一标杆的话，那么印度早已达到了美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿所谓的“黄金标准”。但这与印度的现实及其执政党的性质相去甚远。用布朗大学的理查德·斯奈德（Richard Snyder）的话讲，国大党像是一个“新父系独裁”，“人民因与统治者走得较近而获得好处。”和甘地家族套上近乎就是一切。