High-capacity flawed democracies absorb electoral change without major violence

Evidence

India retains its distinctiveness, but within the range of other relatively high-capacity, flawed democracies. In the face of dire predictions, the BJP’s loss of governmental power in the 2004 national elections occurred without major new violence. A Prevention of Terrorism Act, first put in place by decree shortly after the attacks on September 11, passed parliament in 2002. It strengthened the state’s police powers, but fell far short of silencing political contention across the country. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 527

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s proposed asymmetry in reverse: dominant-group (BJP) loss of power produced no repertoire escalation, suggesting constitutional regimes absorb even incumbency loss. Contrast with Guantanamo passage showing states still use extraconstitutional violence against subordinates. — connects to: Electoral democracy can persist amid rampant police and gang violence — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 518; Higher regime capacity with some democratic freedoms produces intermediate contention — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 503; High capacity and democracy suppress revolutionary situations while medium-capacity regimes favor outcomes — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 979 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: The “dire predictions” of violence after BJP loss — what repertoire were the predictors expecting, and by whom? Relevant to whether institutional absorption is asymmetric between groups.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 527

Broader Connections

• High capacity and democracy suppress revolutionary situations while medium-capacity regimes favor outcomes #expands (0.85) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 979
• Low-capacity democracies are rare and historically short-lived #qualifies (0.74)
• Higher regime capacity with some democratic freedoms produces intermediate contention #qualifies (0.72) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 503