Democracy and discontent : India's growing crisis of governability / Atul Kohli.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kohli, Atul.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political stability--India.

Political stability.

India--Politics and government--1977-.

India.

Politics and government.

State governments--India.

State governments.

Physical Description:

xi, 420 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Summary:

As more and more Third World countries have become democratic, the question of how well democracies fare in solving problems of development has gained in importance. India's long experience with democracy provides significant insights. Over the last two decades it has become increasingly difficult for India simultaneously to accommodate conflicting interests and to promote social and economic development. Governments elected with large majorities have repeatedly failed to translate popular support into effective policies, and the role of violence in politics has been growing steadily. The results of the 1989 national elections have raised doubts about whether India can continue to maintain a stable majority government.

What factors are responsible for this growing crisis of governability in the world's largest democracy? This study analyzes the political changes in India under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi from the late 1960s to the close of the 1980s. Based on fieldwork at the local, regional, and national levels, it argues that the roots of India's worsening problems are more political than socioeconomic, located mainly in the nation's political structure. A highly interventionist state confronting a poor economy has come to be involved in intense political competition. The spread of egalitarian political values and the opportunities provided by democracy have helped to transform what was once a heterogeneous social structure into many groups of mobilized activists. Failure of leaders to make timely concessions has only intensified political demands and activity. And finally, the growing weakness of fragmented political parties, which both reflects and exacerbates this process of overpoliticization, has made effective rule increasingly difficult.

A key message of this study is that over the last two decades India has had too much of the "wrong" kind of democracy and not enough of the "right" kind. Because a highly interventionist but ineffectual national government and weak political parties are major factors in India's governability crisis, strengthening party organizations and bringing the national government's capacities in line with its commitments are important prerequisites for better democratic government in India, as they are in other, similar low-income democracies.

Contents:

1 An overview of the study 3

2 Some conceptual and theoretical considerations 22

Part II. The Growing Problems of Governing the Periphery: Politics in the Districts

Introduction: the districts 35

3 Kheda, Gujarat 37

4 Guntur, Andhra Pradesh 61

5 Belgaun, Karnataka 93

6 Calcutta, West Bengal 123

7 Madurai, Tamil Nadu 154

Conclusion: the districts 184

Part III. Order and Breakdown in the States

Introduction: the states 203

8 Breakdown in a "backward" state: Bihar 205

9 Growing turmoil in an "advanced" state: Gujarat 238

10 From breakdown to order: West Bengal 267

Conclusion: the states 297

Part IV. Centralization and Powerlessness at the Center

Introduction: the Center 303

11 Managing the economy: halfhearted liberalization 305

12 Managing the troubled political institutions: the Congress party and relations with Punjab 339

Conclusion: the Center 378

13 Political change in a democratic developing country 383.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [405]-414) and index.

ISBN:

052139161X

0521396921

OCLC:

21559859