Designed as a standard text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science and also for the aspirants of Civil Services Examinations, the Second Edition of this book provides a thoroughly updated account of Indian politics, taking into consideration the Indian constitutional foundations and functioning of the various democratic institutions. It gives a holistic view of the political system of India that includes the State, Government (both central and state governments), the market, and the civil society, including infrastructures like the party systems in the nation and the states that are partly in the civil society and partly in the state. The text begins with a detailed discussion on the nature of the Indian Constitution and moves on to analyze the making of the Constitution, organs of the Government, the bureaucracy, the party system, and the civil society. It gives a retrospective as well as a prospective view on all the topics, giving a composite idea of the issues involved. The new trends in Indian politics are seen through the prism of democratization, secularization, federalization, globalization and regional integration. The text not only provides an updated account of the topics discussed but also brings to light new conceptual and theoretical issues underlying the transformation that is taking place in Indian politics.
Besides undergraduate and postgraduate students, all those who wish to have a deeper understanding of the Indian political system will find the book extremely useful.
WHAT’S NEW TO THIS EDITION :
A new chapter (Chapter 9) on Local Self-Government—The Third Tier of the Federal Structure—An Unexplored Internal Frontier
New Sections have been added to several chapters:
Chapter 3 Sovereign Democratic Republicanism, Democratic Developmentalism, Class/Social Basis of State.
Chapter 7 Asymmetrical Federation, Reformist Discourse for a Better Federal Political Equilibrium.
Chapter 12 Adaptation of Party System to Society, State Party Systems, and the Impact of Party System on Democracy.
Chapter 13 Social Movements.About the AuthorM. P. SINGH (PhD) was formerly, Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. Earlier, he served as Head, Department of Political Science, and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences of the University. He is currently an honorary Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. Professor Singh has authored many books on the political scenario of India, Pakistan, and South Asia and published several research papers in journals of international repute. He has been a holder of Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute‘s Faculty Research and Faculty Enrichment Fellowships more than once. He was also Country Coordinator for India for the Global Dialogue Series of the Forum of Federations, Ottawa, on the theme of Intergovernmental Relations. His areas of specialization include Indian and Canadian Politics, Comparative and South Asian Politics, and the Philosophy of Science and Research Methods.|REKHA SAXENA (PhD), is an Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. She has more than 15 years of teaching experience. She is also an honorary Vice Chairman and Fellow at the Centre for Multilevel Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. She is a recipient of Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute’s Doctoral (1999–2000), Faculty Research (2003) and Faculty Enrichment (2011) Fellowships. She was twice appointed as a country co-coordinator for India on Global Dialogue Programs of the Forum of Federations, Canada. She was also nominated as a Member of a Task-Force of the Second Commission on Centre-State Relations set up by the Government of India. Dr. Saxena has authored many books and published a number of research papers in national and international publications. Her areas of specialization are federal political institutions, party system and elections in a comparative perspective.
