If it impossible to conceive of democracies sans elections, why is it impossible to imagine elections without the flood of money in politics? How does every general election in India get more expensive than the last one? Stepping into the mucky terrain to find out what enables the average Indian vote to have a price, Costs of Democracy opens readers' eyes to the opaque and enigmatic ways in which money flows through the political heart of the world's largest democracy.

In the first in-depth investigation drawing from extensive fieldwork on political campaigns, unique surveys, and creative and innovative data analysis, the contributions chase and unpack the institutional and regulatory context governing the flow of money in politics; the sources of political finance; the need for such large spending; how money flow, operate, and interact with different levels of government.