Section Article

POLITICAL FREEDOM VS. AUTHORITARIANISM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EMERGENCY AND PRESENT-DAY GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
Author(s): Shashi Ahuja

Abstract
Political freedom is a foundational element of democratic governance ensuring individual liberty institutional checks and balances and constitutional accountability. India’s democratic journey spanning over seven decades has witnessed both robust expressions of political freedom and periods of centralized authority that challenged democratic norms. The most striking episode in this context was the 1975–77 Emergency a twenty-one-month period in which civil liberties were suspended political dissent was suppressed and executive authority expanded dramatically. The Emergency has often been treated as a critical benchmark to understand authoritarian tendencies within a democratic framework. As India approached 2025 public debate increasingly revolved around comparing the Emergency period with present-day governance practices particularly concerning institutional independence media freedom dissent federal relations surveillance mechanisms and the balance between security and liberty. This research explores the comparative nature of political freedom and authoritarian tendencies across these two periods analyzing how constitutional structures political leadership state institutions public opinion and socio-political dynamics shape the expression of power in India. While the Emergency represented a formal suspension of democratic rights contemporary concerns revolve around subtle mechanisms of control embedded in digital governance political polarization expanding state authority and increased centralization. Through a detailed analysis of historical and contemporary governance processes this study argues that the nature of authoritarian tendencies has transformed—from overt state control to more indirect institutional and socio-cultural forms. The paper also highlights how political awareness judicial interventions civil society movements and media diversification continue to play a crucial role in safeguarding democratic rights.