Abstract
Disillusionment with income as a measure of wellbeing has led researchers to alternative
measures that are broader and focus on outcomes. Amartya Sen’s pioneering contribution
focuses on capabilities to live a healthy and rewarding life. Deaton, among others,
espouses a measure of wellbeing called life evaluation/satisfaction that aggregates
components of wellbeing, such as economic status, health, family circumstances and even
human and political rights, and we use this measure of life evaluation here. As there is no
study of trust in the present Indian government’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led
by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and life evaluation, this study aims to fill this gap, using
the Gallup World Poll survey for India covering the period 2018–21. As trust in the NDA is
endogenous, 2SLS and Lewbel IV estimators have been used. As the 2SLS estimates satisfy
the relevance and exclusion conditions for the instruments, we rely on these estimates.
Our analysis, controlling for other covariates, confirms robustly that trust in the NDA
determines life evaluation. As trust in the NDA has decreased over the period analysed, so
has life evaluation. If the oppressive and brutal policies of the NDA in pursuit of a Hindu
nation are not checked, the cumulative loss of trust in the NDA and life evaluation may
jeopardise democracy.
measures that are broader and focus on outcomes. Amartya Sen’s pioneering contribution
focuses on capabilities to live a healthy and rewarding life. Deaton, among others,
espouses a measure of wellbeing called life evaluation/satisfaction that aggregates
components of wellbeing, such as economic status, health, family circumstances and even
human and political rights, and we use this measure of life evaluation here. As there is no
study of trust in the present Indian government’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led
by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and life evaluation, this study aims to fill this gap, using
the Gallup World Poll survey for India covering the period 2018–21. As trust in the NDA is
endogenous, 2SLS and Lewbel IV estimators have been used. As the 2SLS estimates satisfy
the relevance and exclusion conditions for the instruments, we rely on these estimates.
Our analysis, controlling for other covariates, confirms robustly that trust in the NDA
determines life evaluation. As trust in the NDA has decreased over the period analysed, so
has life evaluation. If the oppressive and brutal policies of the NDA in pursuit of a Hindu
nation are not checked, the cumulative loss of trust in the NDA and life evaluation may
jeopardise democracy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |