Political Dynamics of Rule by the People (In 2 Volumes)

Democracy has moved to the centre of systemic reflections on political economy, gaining a position that used to be occupied by the debate about socialism and capitalism. Certitudes about democracy have been replaced by a new awareness of the elusiveness and fluidity of democratic institutions and the multiplicity of dimensions involved. This book reflects this new intellectual situation. It consists of chapters on the nature of democracy, the necessary conditions for a stable democracy, and the relationship between democracy and important economic issues such as the functioning of the market economy, economic growth, income distribution, and social policies. Indian democracy, as it looks in the golden jubilee year of India’s independence, is in shambles. The democratic legitimacy of the State in India is in question because the electoral process is vitiated by money and muscle power. The attempts to develop grass-roots democratic institutions and to build decentralized democratic structures at the regional levels in response to the growing demands of some ethnic groups do not seem to have been effective. The structural adjustment programme-induced liberalization policy has hit the poor. As rampant corruption in public places shakes the foundation of Indian democracy and as the instrumentalities of the Constitution and the actors in the political process seem to falter, the citizens begin to wonder about the way out. Some pin hope on non-government organizations as a counter-poise to the manifold infirmities eroding the faith in the system. All these challenges to Indian democracy have been dealt within this book.