Why India's Democracy Doesn't Make Sense to Western Experts | Salvatore Babones

India maintains the world's largest democracy with 75 years of continuous constitutional rule - yet international democracy rankings place it alongside countries with military coups and authoritarian regimes. What's really going on? Former CIS executive director Tom Switzer sits down with author Salvatore Babones as part of the launch of his new book "Dharma Democracy: How India Built the Third World's First Democracy." Babones explores the unique model that enabled India to succeed where many post-colonial nations failed, arguing that Hindu religious and social reform movements created a distinctive civil society structure that Western political scientists have largely overlooked. The conversation examines why India's democracy rankings don't reflect its actual performance and addresses one of India's single biggest challenges: integrating its 200 million Muslim citizens better into the democratic mainstream. CIS promotes free choice and individual liberty and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can prosper. Follow CIS on our Socials; Linktree: https://linktr.ee/centreforindependentstudies Twitter - https://twitter.com/CISOZ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies/ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies/ Telegram - https://t.me/centreforindependentstudies 📖 Read more from CIS here: https://www.cis.org.au/ 💬 Join in the conversation in the comments. 👍 Like this video if you enjoyed it and want to see more, it really helps us out! 🔔 Subscribe to our channel and click the bell to watch our videos first: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5c-JkKHb0YxFZ81XBtFCmw?sub_confirmation=1 ⏲️ Missed this event live? Subscribe to CIS to be up to date with all our events: https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/ 📝 Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/ 💳 Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/