What Lokniti-CSDS does

Lokniti-CSDS is an academic research programme established in 1997 and hosted at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi, India. The programme conducts survey-based empirical research on democracy, electoral politics, and public opinion in India and South Asia, with continuous coverage of all national elections since the mid-1990s and frequent state-election studies spanning 19-23 Indian states. It maintains one of the largest archives of publicly referenced voter-behaviour and political-attitudes survey data in India and is led by Sanjay Kumar (CSDS Professor/Director), with Suhas Palshikar as Co-Director and Sandeep Shastri as National Coordinator of the Lokniti network.

Its core methodology combines face-to-face household surveys, structured questionnaires, and quantitative analysis executed primarily through SPSS and cross-tabulation techniques. The product portfolio comprises nine named research programmes (National Election Studies, State Election Studies, Status of Policing in India, Youth Studies, Media Studies, State of Democracy in South Asia, Politics and Society between Elections, Health Politics and Democracy, and CSDS-Lokniti Studies), the peer-reviewed Studies in Indian Politics journal (published by Sage since 2013), and capacity-building products including a Summer School on quantitative methods (operating since 2008) and an internship programme that scaled from 16 to 54 interns between 2022 and 2024.

Lokniti operates as a non-commercial academic programme with no disclosed pricing or commercial revenue model. Funding is grant-based, sourced from international foundations and institutions including Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Ford Foundation, the European Union Cross Cultural Programme, International IDEA, Azim Premji University, King's India Institute, CSEP, Common Cause, and Jain University. Supplementary revenue streams include book royalties from academic publishers (Oxford University Press, Sage, Routledge) and co-production arrangements with media partners such as CNN-IBN, ABP News, The Hindu, and the Indian Express.

Name

Lokniti-CSDS

Legal name

Lokniti: Programme for Comparative Democracy, CSDS

Website

https://lokniti.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lokniti-CSDS is a survey-based academic research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, established in 1997. It studies democracy, electoral politics, and public opinion in India and South Asia, producing national and state election studies, a peer-reviewed journal, and methodological training.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Institutional Funding: Lokniti operates as a research program at CSDS and receives funding from international foundations and institutions for conducting survey-based studies. Partners include Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Ford Foundation, European Union Cross Cultural Programme, and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
2. Publication Sales: Books and journals are published through academic publishers including Oxford University Press, Sage, and Routledge. The Studies in Indian Politics journal is published by Sage with a double-blind peer-review process.
3. Capacity Building Programs: Summer School workshops on quantitative research methods provide training to political scientists and researchers. Internship programs offer opportunities to undergraduate/postgraduate students and research scholars.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Lokniti-CSDS (Lokniti: Programme for Comparative Democracy, CSDS) is an academic research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) that conducts survey-based empirical research on Indian democracy, electoral politics, voter behavior, and public opinion. Established in 1997, it produces nationally representative surveys on political attitudes and election-related studies, and serves as a major data resource for scholars, media, and policymakers studying South Asian politics.

Product overview

Lokniti-CSDS is a research programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies focused on survey-based studies of democracy and electoral politics in India. The organisation operates a portfolio of interconnected research programmes including National Election Studies (NES), State Election Studies (SES), Status of Policing in India (SPIR), Youth Studies, Media Studies, State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA), Politics and Society between Elections, and Health Politics and Democracy studies. These are complemented by the Studies in Indian Politics peer-reviewed journal and capacity building initiatives including the Summer School on Quantitative Methods and an Internship Programme. The research programmes generate large-scale survey datasets on voter behaviour, political attitudes, and democratic participation, which are analyzed and published as books, journal articles, and reports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Studies in Indian Politics: A bi-annual journal established in 2013, published by CSDS and managed by SAGE, employing a double-blind peer-review process.
• National Election Studies
• Summer School

Products and services

• National Election Studies (NES) Pre- and post-election nationally representative surveys conducted during Indian Lok Sabha and state assembly elections to study voter behavior, party preferences, and political attitudes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250 researchers trained in quantitative methods since 2008
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• King's India Institute, Royal Holloway (University of London)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaborative study on Democracy and Health in India, examining how public health crises like COVID-19 shape citizen attitudes toward the state, political trust, and democratic participation.
• Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaborated with CSEP on the Democracy and Health in India study, contributing to research on health as an electoral priority and citizen satisfaction with health services.
• Common CausecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Conducted Status of Policing in India (SPIR) studies in collaboration with Common Cause, examining public perceptions of law enforcement, trust in police, and experiences with justice.
• Azim Premji UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Three-year research collaboration (2017-2019) on 'Politics and Society between Elections' examining public opinion on political subjectivities, social attitudes, friendship networks, and governance outcomes in India, covering 23 States and NCR.
• ABP NewsmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017Conducted multiple rounds of 'Mood of the Nation' surveys in partnership with ABP News (2017, 2018), exploring public opinion on various political and governance issues.
• Jain University, BengalurumajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2013Collaborated with Jain University for hosting Summer School workshops on quantitative methods and releasing the State of Democracy in South Asia-II report.
• CNN-IBNmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2006Between 2006 and 2012, conducted a series of State of the Nation Surveys (SONS) in partnership with CNN-IBN news channel. Also partnered with CNN-IBN and CNBC TV18, Hindustan Times, The Week, and Indian Express for various surveys.
• South Asia Barometer NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Lokniti is part of the South Asia Barometer network, collaborating with East Asia Barometer to evolve an Asia Barometer of democracy and finally a Global Barometer, investigating democracies using survey methodology.
• Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for multiple rounds of nationwide Youth Studies (2007, 2013, 2016, 2021) exploring youth aspirations, anxieties, and political engagement. Also collaborated on Social Media and Political Barometer study and Media in India studies.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Latinobarómetro: Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey covering 18 Latin American countries on democracy, governance, and political culture. It is a structural peer — a regional barometer using face-to-face surveys that Lokniti's State of Democracy in South Asia explicitly mirrors in design and scale.
• V-Dem Institute: V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) at the University of Gothenburg produces the world's largest dataset on democratic institutions and practices, covering most countries from 1900 to today. While V-Dem focuses on expert-coded indices rather than citizen surveys, both produce globally cited measures of democratic functioning that competing researchers compare against.
• Asian Barometer Survey: Asian Barometer is a cross-national survey research network on political values, governance, and democratic attitudes across East and Southeast Asia. It is explicitly partnered with Lokniti via the South Asia Barometer network, sharing methodology, dataset conventions, and Global Barometer linkages.
• Afrobarometer: Afrobarometer is a pan-African survey research network measuring citizen attitudes on democracy, governance, and elections across 30+ countries. It is structurally the closest peer to Lokniti's National Election Studies and State of Democracy in South Asia model — comparable cross-country methodology, funder ecosystem, and longitudinal public-opinion datasets.
• International IDEA: International IDEA is a Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization that produces the Global State of Democracy indices and supports democratic and electoral processes worldwide. IDEA has directly funded Lokniti's SDSA work, making it both a peer and a strategic partner on cross-country democratic assessments.
• Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center is the leading U.S. survey-based public opinion research organization producing election studies, voter behavior data, and demographic analyses. Both Pew and Lokniti share a face-to-face survey methodology, academic publication model, and focus on tracking democratic attitudes and electoral behavior over time.

Broad incumbents

• National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER): NCAER is a New Delhi–based social science research institute conducting large-scale national surveys on consumption, employment, and governance. It uses a similar face-to-face household-survey methodology as Lokniti and is a peer in India's empirical social-science research landscape.
• Observer Research Foundation (ORF): ORF is one of India's largest think tanks covering geopolitics, economics, and political affairs with a strong public-policy media presence. Comparable to Lokniti in domestic reach and Indian policy-research brand, though it focuses on commentary and policy convening rather than primary survey research.
• Centre for Policy Research (CPR India): CPR is a leading Indian policy think tank based in Delhi that conducts research on governance, politics, and public policy. While broader in scope and methods than Lokniti, it operates in the same Delhi policy-research ecosystem, draws from the same Indian academic networks, and competes for overlapping funder interest.

Emerging players

• Carter Center: The Carter Center runs the world's longest-running international election-monitoring program and produces public-facing reports on democratic governance. It is comparable as a global democracy-research organization, though focused on election observation rather than citizen surveys, and operates at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LoknitiCSDS
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=0XQEMVmcCpA
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lokniti-csds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Lokniti-CSDS