Democracy is not defined by how old it is, but by how well it serves its people. My recent participation in the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) reinforced one truth: India, the world’s largest democracy, and the United States, the oldest, have much to learn from each other’s successes and failures.

Over three weeks, I travelled through Washington D.C., Boston in Massachusetts, Manchester in New Hampshire, Columbia and Lexington in South Carolina, and Salt Lake City in Utah. I engaged with senators, state legislators, mayors, councillors, sheriffs, and civil society leaders across party lines. What I observed was not a perfect democracy, but a living one—sometimes inspiring, often sobering, always thought-provoking.

Federalism in action

One of my s

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