1 The Curious Case of Indian Autocracy: An Analysis of Agency and Institutional Change Niheer Dasandi Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) Department of Political Science, University College London Email: niheer.dasandi@ucl.ac.uk DRAFT VERSION – OCTOBER 2015 Abstract: Studies of India democracy generally overlook the autocratic interlude the country experienced between 1975 and 1977 known as “the Emergency”. This paper examines how India became an autocracy in 1975, and how it unexpectedly returned to democracy less than two years later. The paper argues existing institutional theories struggle to offer explanations of the two instances of institutional change due to their neglect of human agency. Using a process tracing approach, the analysis demonstrates the central role Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played in bringing about the Emergency and ending it – highlighting the centrality of agency for understanding institutional change. Introduction Indian democracy has long puzzled political scientists (see Lijphart 1996; Varshney 1998; Kohli 2001). The country’s pervasive poverty and illiteracy, ethnic diversity, and entrenched social inequalities all suggest the democratic system adopted at independence in 1947 would not survive. The fact that India remains the world’s largest democracy has, therefore, been the subject of much attention. Studies have increasingly pointed to the importance of historical factors and path dependence in explaining India’s continued democratic