"A close look at the underbelly of the world's largest democracy."-Wall Street Journal
"Vaishnav meticulously tracks the remarkable political success of India's accused murderers, blackmailers, thieves and kidnappers . . . When Crime Pays can be grimly amusing."-Economist
"Political scientist Milan Vaishnav has been studying links between crime and democracy in India for many years now . . . When Crime Pays offers some intriguing insights into what is a disturbing feature of India's electoral democracy."-BBC News
"Milan Vaishnav offers illuminating answers to questions on the nexus between crime and politics."-The Hindu
"Voters are not necessarily blind to the predilections of the political class: many voters vote for politicians because, rather than in spite, of their criminal reputations," Vaishnav writes. Why? The author's explanation, at once persuasive and tragic, is that each has something to gain."-James Crabtree, Financial Times
"Milan Vaishnav tackles the tantalising issue of corruption in Indian politics on three levels: as a storyteller, a political scientist and a policy thinker. . . This is an important book. Milan Vaishnav has gotten deeply into the weeds of Indian politics and presents in granular detail a remarkable picture of how India's political machinery works."-Teresita C. Schaffer, Survival
"Vaishnav incorporates insights from political science, sociology, public choice theory, and industrial organization to explain the connection between criminality and politics in India" -Shruti Rajagopalan, Public Choice
When Crime Pays was shortlisted for the New Indian Foundation 2018 Book Award.
Winner of the 2018 Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award, sponsored by the Indian Express Group
"The most systematic analysis of corruption and criminalization in the world's largest democracy. Harking back to the historical roots of this phenomenon, Vaishnav shows that it is growing because of societal, political, and economic factors, and that legislation passed to contain these factors has hardly made any difference. This remarkable book will change readers' view of democracy in India."--Christophe Jaffrelot, Senior Research Fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS
"This is the first book length treatment of a peculiar paradox of Indian politics: namely, the coexistence of criminality and democratic vigor. Milan Vaishnav's analysis of this paradox is highly original and hugely fascinating, and will become a standard text on criminality, corruption and democracy."-- Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, Brown University
"Why do so many people with criminal charges contest Indian elections, why do they win so often, and what does this tell us about parties and voters in the world's largest democracy? Milan Vaishnav's excellent book uses rich fieldwork and impressive quantitative analysis to provide compelling and surprising answers." --Steven Wilkinson, Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies, Yale University
"While democracy is fast taking root in most parts of the world, criminality and corruption are getting increasingly entrenched. Ironically, voters seem quite comfortable with this state of affairs. This strange coexistence of free and fair elections with criminality and money power is beautifully analyzed in this important new book on electoral politics."--S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India
"The most systematic analysis of corruption and criminalization in the world's largest democracy. Harking back to the historical roots of this phenomenon, Vaishnav shows that it is growing because of societal, political, and economic factors, and that legislation passed to contain these factors has hardly made any difference. This remarkable book will change readers' view of democracy in India."--Christophe Jaffrelot, Senior Research Fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS -- Christophe Jaffrelot
"This is the first book length treatment of a peculiar paradox of Indian politics: namely, the coexistence of criminality and democratic vigor. Milan Vaishnav's analysis of this paradox is highly original and hugely fascinating, and will become a standard text on criminality, corruption and democracy."-- Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, Brown University -- Ashutosh Varshney
"Why do so many people with criminal charges contest Indian elections, why do they win so often, and what does this tell us about parties and voters in the world's largest democracy? Milan Vaishnav's excellent book uses rich fieldwork and impressive quantitative analysis to provide compelling and surprising answers." --Steven Wilkinson, Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies, Yale University -- Steven Wilkinson
"While democracy is fast taking root in most parts of the world, criminality and corruption are getting increasingly entrenched. Ironically, voters seem quite comfortable with this state of affairs. This strange coexistence of free and fair elections with criminality and money power is beautifully analyzed in this important new book on electoral politics."--S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India -- S.Y. Quraishi
