The Oxford Companion to Politics in India

by Niraja Gopal Jayal, Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Overview

The Oxford Companion to Politics in India provides one of the most comprehensive and authoritative overview of Indian politics till date. Incorporating the best social science knowledge available on the developments in Indian politics, it provides a methodical exposition of how such issues are best understood. The contributors-top political scientists from across the world-interweave analytical perspectives with existing influential scholarship to provide a rich narrative of the subjects covered.

The volume has been thematically organized in seven parts. It begins with a survey of the basic institutional framework of politics like Indian Constitution, Parliament, federalism, local governance, and the Indian party system from 1952 to 2009. The essays also examine how non-political institutions like the Supreme Court of India and Election Commission have shaped Indian politics. They discuss social cleavages like class, caste, and gender as well as regional and religious diversities that create identities and mould politics in various ways. The companion further examines the political processes through political parties and their performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, political mobilization, alliances, and political leadership. Ideological contestations like nationalism, secularism, political representation, and social justice have also been explored in detail. Highlighting the linkages between social movements and civil society, a section looks into issues related with farmers' movements, women movements, and the role of NGOs in Indian politics. In addition, the volume investigates economic transformations in the country through an analysis of politics, political economy, government accountability, political economy as well as India's external and defence policies. It concludes with a discussion on various ways of looking at Indian politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195669763
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/05/2010
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 1.90(d)

About the Author

Niraja Gopal Jayal is Professor at the Center for the Study of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India and is also Visiting Fellow at the Democracy and Development Program in the Center for Human Values and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies at Princeton University.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta is President and Chief Executive at the Centre for Policy Research in India. He was former Visiting Professor of Government and Associate Professor of Government and of Social Studies at Harvard University. He als has held a visiting appointment at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Part I: The Institutional Setting
1. The State in India, Partha Chatterjee
2. Indian Constitutionalism: The Social and the Political Vision, Uday S. Mehta
3. The Indian Parliament, Vernon Hewitt and Shirin M. Rai
4. Federalism in India: Structure and Process, Subrata K. Mitra and Malte Pehl
5. Local Governance, James Manor
6. The Supreme Court of India: Promise, Reach, and Overreach, Lavanya Rajmani and Arghya Sengupta
7. The Election Commission, Alistair McMillan
8. The Fragmentation of the Indian Party System, 1952-2009: Seven Competing Explanations, E. Sridharan
Part II: Social Cleavages, Identity, and Politics
9. Class and Politics in India, John Harriss
10. Caste and Politics in Contemporary India, Surinder S. Jodhka
11. Gender and Politics in India, Amrita Basu
12. Regionalism and Secessionism, Sanjib Baruah
13. Politics and National Identity, Sunil Khilnani
14. The Sangh Parivar and Power: To be or not to be in the Political Arena, Christophe Jaffrelot
15. Minorities and Politics, Bishnu Mohapatra
Part III: Political Processes
16. Political Parties in India, Zoya Hasan
17. Politics and Culture, Stuart Corbridge
18. Cleavage and Strategy in Political Mobilization in India: A Century of Anti-hegemonic and Sandwich Alliances, Arun R. Swamy
19. Political Leadership in Independent India, Ramachandra Guha
20. Dealing with a Distant State: The Evolving Nature of Local Politics in India, Anirudh Krishna
Part IV: Ideological Contestations in Indian Politics
21. Nationalism, Sudipta Kaviraj
22. Secularism: The Biography of a Troubled Concept, Neera Chandoke
23. Political Representation in Contemporary India, Yogendra Yadav
24. Social Justice, Gopal Guru
Part V: Social Movements and Civil Society
25. Social Movements in India, Amita Baviskar
26. Agrarian Mobilization and Farmers' Movement in India, Sudha Pai
27. The Women's Movement in India, Anupama Roy
28. NGOS and Indian Politics, Rob Jenkins
Part VI: Politics and Policy: Chapter
29. Political Economy of the State, Devesh Kapur
30. Business and Politics in Changing India: Continuities, Transformations, and Patterns, Aseema Sinha
31. Government Accountability, Dilip Mookherjee
32. Political Economy of Reforms, Rahul Mukherji
33. Politics and Redistribution in India, Atul Kohli
34. India and the World: The Grand Strategy Debate, Kanti Bajpai
35. Indian Defence Policy, Sumit Ganguly
Part VII: Ways of Looking at India: Politics
36. An Intellectual History of the Study of Indian Politics, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph and Lloyd I. Rudolph
37. Data and the Study of Indian Politics, Steve I. Wilkinson
38. Democracy and the Right to Work: India's Employment Guarantee Act, Jean Dreze
Index
Introduction by Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta;
1. Part I: The Institutional Setting: . The State in India by Partha Chatterjee;
2. . Indian Constitutionalism: The Social and the Political Vision by Uday S. Mehta;
3. The Indian Parliament by Vernon Hewitt and Shirin M. Rai;
4. Federalism in India: Structure and Process by Subrata K. Mitra and Malte Pehl;
5. . Local Governance by James Manor;
7. The Election Commission by Alistair McMillan;
8. The Fragmentation of the Indian Party System, 1952-2009: Seven Competing Explanations by E. Sridharan;
Part II: Social Cleavages, Identity, and Politics:
. 9. Class and Politics in India by John Harriss;
10. Caste and Politics in Contemporary India by Surinder S. Jodhka;
11. Gender and Politics in India by Amrita Basu;
12. Regionalism and Secessionism by Sanjib Baruah;
13. Politics and National Identity by Sunil Khilnani;
14. The Sangh Parivar and Power: To be or not to be in the Political Arena by Christophe Jaffrelot;
Part III: Political Processes:
16. Political Parties in India by Zoya Hasan;
17. Politics and Culture by Stuart Corbridge;
18. Cleavage and Strategy in Political Mobilization in India: A Century of Anti-hegemonic and Sandwich Alliances by Arun R. Swamy;
19. Political Leadership in Independent India by Ramachandra Guha;
20. Dealing with a Distant State: The Evolving Nature of Local Politics in India by Anirudh Krishna; Part IV: Ideological Contestations in Indian Politics
21. Nationalism by Sudipta Kaviraj;
22. . Secularism: The Biography of a Troubled Concept by Neera Chandoke;
23. Political Representation in Contemporary India by Yogendra Yadav;
24. Social Justice by Gopal Guru;
Part V: Social Movements and Civil Society:
25. Social Movements in India by Amita Baviskar;
26. Agrarian Mobilization and Farmers' Movement in India by Sudha Pai;
27. The Women's Movement in India by Anupama Roy;
28. NGOS and Indian Politics by Rob Jenkins; Part VI: Politics and Policy:
29. Political Economy of the State by Devesh Kapur;
30. Business and Politics in Changing India: Continuities, Transformations, and Patterns by Aseema Sinha;
32. Political Economy of Reforms by Rahul Mukherji ;
33. Politics and Redistribution in India by Atul Kohli ;
34. India and the World: The Grand Strategy Debate by Kanti Bajpai ;
35. Indian Defence Policy Sumit Ganguly; Part VII: Ways of Looking at India: Politics
36. An Intellectual History of the Study of Indian Politics by Susanne Hoeber Rudolph and Lloyd I. Rudolph;
37. Data and the Study of Indian Politics by Steve I. Wilkinson;
38. Democracy and the Right to Work: India's Employment Guarantee Act by Jean Dreze; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"A useful introduction to the study of Indian politics...this companion provides an understanding of the reasons behind the strength and longevity of democracy in India. It brings together essays authored by leading Indian and foreign scholars from diverse fields...Recommended for readers who are interested in understanding one of the emerging nations of the 21st century."—CHOICE

"This is a landmark publication. In forty sweeping essays some of the world's leading scholars describe, dissect and analyze the many layered polity that is India. At a time when every aspect of India is getting rapidly and intricately inter-women with the global, this book will be an invaluable guide to not just political scientists but also economists, sociologists and anybody interested in the strategic analysis of India's international relations and domestic policymaking."—Kaushik Basu, Ministry of Financy, Government of India and Cornell University

"This splendid collection shows that the study of Indian politics is essential for comparative politics and political theory. Jayal and Mehta have assembled a stunning group of authors, the best that can be imagined today, and have designed the volume in an impressively thoughtful way, covering institutions, political processes, social groups, and the politics of class, religion, gender, caste and region. Written with flair and fully accessible to non-experts, the essays should put the study of India where it belongs, in the forefront of political science."—Martha Nussbaum, The University of Chicago

"This companion really does justice to its subject, covering a range of issues from social cleavages at one end of the spectrum to the problems of applying quantitative techniques to the masses of raw data on Indian political life at the other. It is built on firm historical foundations and is extremely sophisticated about the ways in which India is and is not an 'exceptional' case among modern democracies. It will be immensely useful to readers both within India and beyond."—Alan Ryan, University of Oxford

"This companion will undoubtedly become indispensable to academic research on Indian politics as well as compulsory reading on university courses. It will also be an invaluable introductory resource for the study of comparative international politics, with India now a subject of scholarly enquiry as successful democracy, admidst persistent inequality and social and cultural diversity. With growing interest in India as a global power in the 21st century, the book will be of relevance to a world-wide audience of lay readers, policy makers and economic analysts, seeking to understand the complexities of Indian politics."—Nandini Gooptu, University of Oxford

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