Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of Indian Legislative Assemblies

In view of the crucial role that caste plays in state politics in India, this book analyses how this case-based social diversity gets translated into politics by tracking the individual trajectory of 16 states through more than five decades. It examines one dominant parameter – the caste background of the elected representatives in state legislatures, namely, the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), even as it factors other indicators such as their occupation, gender, age and education. For decades, India has been a conservative democracy governed by the upper castes from the urban bourgeoisie, the landowning aristocracy and the intelligentsia. This work highlights the way in which the democratization of the 'world's largest democracy' begins with the rise of peasants' parties and with the politicization of the lower castes. Tracing the changing social profile of the elected representatives of the Indian states since the 1950s, the book points to an uneven democratization of the regional political class. It will be of particular interest to scholars of political science, modern political history, sociology, South Asian studies as well as the general reader.