PhD Thesis

Medha's PhD in political science at SPIR will continue her research on how economic growth influences political development and democratisation in India. Medha will explore how economic growth changes citizens’ social and political values, and the implications of this on the stability of political systems in South Asia. Medha is also interested in better understanding the relationship between economic development and state capacity and is keen to explore how citizens’ democratic values change when economic growth does not improve the ability of the state to deliver public services.

PhD supervisor

Professor Ian McAllister

Background

Medha first came to the ANU in 2013 to study a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics. During her undergraduate degree she completed the Australian National Internships Program (ANIP) at Parliament House and worked with a Senator to produce a report on higher education deregulation. In her final year Medha was awarded the Bhati Family India Travel Grant by the ANU College of Asia and Pacific to undertake an internship with the Pratichi Institute, founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen in Kolkata, India. She graduated with Honours in Political Science in 2016, under the supervision of Professor Ian McAllister. Medha's Honours thesis focused on economic modernisation and its impact on democracy in India since 1990.

After graduation Medha worked with the Victorian State Government in criminal justice policy, where she focused on family violence reform and police policy. In this role Medha learnt the importance of developing policy based on academic research, and was interested in applying this principle to her own research on development in India. In 2018 she found an opportunity to do so via the National Parliamentary Fellowship Program – India 2018 by the Crawford School of Public Policy, in which she worked with a member of the Indian Parliament to investigate how social outcomes can be delivered through results-based financing in India.