Democracy in India: Constraints and Opportunities

It is an incontrovertible fact that democracy is basically and essentially a contestable concept with many splendours that lack precision and reality. Despite the ambiguity of the concept, it has been universally accepted as a popular system. As Prof. Bernard Crick aptly states: "Democracy is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public affairs. She is everybody’s mistakes and yet somehow retains her magic even when a lover sees that her favours are being, in his light, shared by another. The theory is that democracy entails several elements such as popular participation in politics, political equality and justice along with accountability of the government to the people. It is also a system with built-in checks and balances. A closer scrutiny reveals that the real world of democracy is beset with dubious hypothesis. Democracy has lost its direction, the niceties of the democratic ideals have been tarnished and it has become an inefficient institution. Democracy is a system that needs reshaping, recasting and reorientation. The author makes a humble attempt to analyse the working of democracy in India methodically and proves that it is still in its infancy and an unfinished issue in the agenda of politics which needs care with caution for its nourishment. This book is bound to be useful for students and teachers of political science and public administration and for the general reader interested in the governance of the country and its improvement to benefit the citizens of India.