Seymour M. Lipset dubbed economic development a “social requisite to democracy,” considering factors such as national wealth, a large degree of industrialization, and high levels of education to be necessary fertilizers to prepare a breeding ground for democracy. Citing many different cases throughout history leading up to the present (which, for him at the time of writing his article, “Some Social Requisites of Democracy,” was 1959), he famously posited that “the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy.”1 While these arguments may ring true for many countries (particularly Western ones), one country in particular does not follow that trend and, thus, fails to fit into his model. That country is India.