Indian elections : useful think tank websites for academic research

The following all have background analysis of the Indian election system. You can download full text papers, report and comment for free!

Amnesty International - India
background information on human rights.

Asia House (UK) comment and events relating to the elections.

Asian Human Rights Commission

Brookings Institute

Carnegie Endowment has a special project India decides which has background guides and indepth coverage.

Council on Foreign Relations - US think tank considers impact on US and other regional foreign policies.

Human Rights Watch 

India @LSE blog has discussion of the elections. 

Kings College London has an online discussion of the count down to the elections.

Indian elections - our recommended social media sites

What is the role of Social media in the 2014 Indian elections.
According to Forbes India the 'impact is limited but liked'.
according to the FT Beyond Brics it is the first digital election. The other  FT blogs have been discussing examples these include digital tea parties.
BBC Trending from the World Service recently had a discussion of the use of social media
IRIS Knowledge Foundation, Mumbai India  published a recent report on Social Media and Lok Sabha Elections which regarded it as important fre registration required to download the report.

Key examples of the use of social media in the campaigns.

Major social media have set up specialist pages for the Indian elections.
See the Google Indian elections portal. this includes maps, links to key sites  a score map of popular searches.and a hang out section which is promoting an on line community who can ask questions and discuss election issues.
Global Voices online has a background guide to the elections plus comment from bloggers.
You Tube elections hub has online videos of debates.
Social Samosa launched the MTS Election Tracker, a live dashboard that showcases analysis of conversations around the web and social media about political parties in graphic form. The tracker provides real-time data analysis of data from throughout the web and from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as tracks mentions of leading political parties and politicians.

The Guardian newspaper has been getting readers to nominate favourite Indian election blogs and websites.which are providing alternative voices during the elections. These can all be read online.
 Voter and activist sites
The TCS iElect app a collaboration between Twitter and Tata Consulting services
An official App from the Electoral commission.

Vebbler’s ‘the Ungli campaign’

Google's Pledge to vote campaign.

I vote for a Better India.

Indian elections - keep up to date with our recomended research resources.

As India starts its elections.
Here is the first of our postings linking to useful sites for academic researchers.

Get started with this quick two minute guide from the BBC.
The Guardian website also has this quick Interactive guide.

Indian Government official information.
can be found in detail on the Electoral Commission website.
This includes a useful series of electoral maps marking out constituencies, regulations and press releases


New services covering the election.
All these websites have news headlines, poll, and analysis.

India
CNN-IBN 
Economic Times of India
Economic and Political weekly
Express
India Today
Times of India
ND TV

Foreign Press
BBC
Al-Jazeera
Economist
Reuters India coverage
FT 
Guardian
Le Monde
New York Times has a special India ink blog.
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post

Afghanistan elections April 2014: will they be fair?

Presidential  elections are due to take place in Afghanistan on April 5th

Good starting points for background to the elections are
IFES guide
Guardian has a basic guide and news coverage of events
Aljazeera recently published an article on myths about the elections.
The BBC website has a guide to why the election matters in 60 seconds as well as general news
Tolo news - has news from within Afghanistan.
Independent  Election Commission of Afghanistan has information on the electoral system, previous elections

Election observers.
use these sites to get analysis of the state of democracy and conduct of the elections.
EU observers
United Nations Assistance mission.


Analysis
Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) is an independent non-profit policy research includes useful postings and analysis of eventsDemocracy International has polls of voters and analysis of knowledge
IKNOW - covers women in the elections.
CRS congressional research services briefing Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance November 22, 2013
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has reports on women in democracy
United States Institute of Peace briefing.
Council on Foreign relations.
Brookings Institution.
Rand - analysis of security



Human Rights.
Controversy surrounding polls issued has been highlighted by Reuters.
Human Rights Watch has reported concerns
Amnesty International has published a document which sets out what should be done.
International Media support has documented pressures on the media.

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