Politics in India

Subrata K. Mitra, Ph.D. was Head of the Department of Political Science at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany, (1994-2014). In course of his years in teaching, research and academic collaboration, he has applied his specialisation in rational choice theory and quantitative methods to a diversity of fields which include Indian and comparative politics; democratisation; the post-colonial state and social change; governance; elections and political parties; state-formation and sub-national movements; foreign policy; religion and art history; and transcultural studies. This diversity can be seen in the range of publications which include India: Statecraft and foreign policy (2024), The 2019 Parliamentary Elections in India: Democracy at Crossroads? (2022), Governance by Stealth: The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Making of the Indian State (2021); Kautilya’s Arthashastra: An Intellectual Biography – the Classical Roots of Modern Politics in India (2017); Citizenship and the Flow of Ideas (2012); Re-use: The Art and Politics of Integration and Anxiety (2012); When Rebels become Stakeholders (2009) and the Puzzle of India’s Governance (2005).

• A. Introduction1. Indian politics in the 21st century: Democracy, diversity and governance2. Culture, context and the rational voter: The idioms of Indian politicsB. History, Society, and Identity3. The past in the making of the present: The longue durée of Indian politics4. Caste, language and religion: Politics and social cleavages in India5. Nationising India: Politics in quest of a collective identityC. Government and the political process6. Strength with accountability: Institutional arrangement of the Indian state7. India’s symmetric and asymmetric federalism: Balancing national unity and regional autonomy8. Elections and political parties: Democracy’s workhorses9. Radical politics, ‘demand groups’ and consolidation of democratic governance10. Force in the making of legitimacy: The state and political order in IndiaD. Economy, Social Justice, and India’s Global Outreach11. The state and the economy: The challenge of democracy and development12. The state and social justice: Poverty, social vulnerability and welfare13. India and the World: Statecraft and foreign policyE. Conclusion: Consolidating democratic governance14. The resilience of India’s counterfactual democracy, and its anomalies15. Consolidating democratic governance in changing societies: Lessons from the Indian case

“Politics in India deftly lays out the choices, institutions, process as well as the deeper structures of society, history and culture shaping India’s changing trajectory. It weaves together historical, and contemporary material including public opinion data to build a powerful framework that both surveys while also articulating a set of cogent ideas and concepts that allow us to see the changes and the continuities in India’s trajectory of governance. This book educates the student and teacher but also goes beyond to stimulate the scholar of India. The guide to further reading in Chapter 17 enables the reader to go deep if they so choose. The writing is powerful and evocative. This textbook is valuable advance over previous editions and is likely to serve as an important resource for the un-initiated, as well as students, teachers and scholars alike.”Aseema Sinha, Wagener Chair of South Asian Politics and George R. Roberts Fellow, Claremont McKenna College, California, USA "This is the first-ever comprehensive book on Indian politics which surpasses all existing ones. Majestic in scope and style, it belongs to the grand tradition Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph. Based the application of political scientific tools – yet rare in the genre – it firmly roots understanding Indian politics in history, culture and context of the country. Mindful of the blemishes as well as achievements of the Indian state, the book focuses on India’s resilient democracy, and indigeneity, adaptability and transformability of modern politics in a traditional setting. Original, and path breaking, the book will remain a standard text on Indian politics for students, researchers, rulers, political opinionmakers and the general readers."Harihar Bhattacharyya, Ph. D (LSE), Former Professor of Political Science, the University of Burdwan"Systematically exploring the institutional architecture and multifaceted socio-political processes, this volume offers us a deeply reflective and analytically sophisticated assessment of Indian politics. It unpacks the complexities of the contemporary political landscape to map out the dasha (status) and disha (direction) of constitutional democracy in India."Hilal Ahmed, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi