Do states gain maturity in their nature of governance? What if the nature of governance had been faulty and it matured in the same mould. This may sound weird but this is the abyss large numbers of South Asian states have created for themselves. Down the memory lane, Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist and sociologist used the term “soft state” in his seminal work “Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations.” The geography he was talking about was South Asia with a primary focus on India and adjoining countries. The concept of soft state, coined in this heavily researched book, became a buzzword, to appropriately define state in most of these countries.
That was 1968, we are in 2025, but the practice remains as it was, when it was conceptualised based on the actual practice. The concept of soft state describes a situation where governments are unwilling and unable to enforce laws and policies effectively due to corruption, lack of political will, and weak institutions. More than half a century later we are in the same state of affairs or even worse. Think of all issues around, more so over 80 crore Indians getting food doles to survive. Without getting into the details of it, another overengulfing cover has added on to it.
This can be termed as the Digital Soft State. It broadly means lack of knowledge and practice of technology is taking governance and government to the periphery, while they feel they are in full control of it. The ills of soft state continues but what is added is that the states are bereft of cutting edge technology; its upgrade and also its sustainability. There are barely any first adopters or there is any interest in bringing about an all comprehensive change. e-khata in Bangalore is a case in point, which all Bangloean property are braving it through. So what is added to all the ills which already prevail in the local self government is the digital component, which mostly is next to impossible to navigate.
When you don’t understand the main tools of today’s existence and yet want to use them all to camouflage your real intentions, it can be termed as the Digital Soft State. It makes no dent in the inaction of the government and delivery of its services, procurement to execution of projects face the same age old issues, with data being fed at fancy and dashboards if any, display the unreal, or have no meaning. Data lacks integrity or remains scarce and at times missing, yet it is mandated to propel governance to the next level. Stranger still, this becomes another promising area of corruption. Corruption, lack of political will and weak institutions, the core elements of the soft state, have been further accentuated by digital technology, which is being perfected and weaponised for this purpose.
DIGITAL SOFT STATE IS THE MODERN AVATAR OF THE SOFT STATE, MAKING IT A CHRONIC STATE OF AFFAIRS.
Sanjay Sahay