At home with democracy : a theory of Indian politics / D.L. Sheth ; edited with an introduction by Peter Ronald deSouza.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sheth, D. L., 1936- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--India.

Democracy.

India--Politics and government.

India.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiii, 289 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Singapore : Palgrave Macmillan, [2018]

Summary:

This book presents numerous discussions of specific aspects of democratic politics, showing how `democracy' can be projected as a model of deliberate imperfection - a model that tolerates various loose ends in the system - and how democracy recognizes a multiplicity of possible courses open to the system at any point in time. Against this backdrop, the book carefully analyzes the lifetime work of D.L. Sheth, which, seen as a whole, offers us with a theory of Indian politics. The selection of fifteen essays has been clustered into five sections that signify the major domains of democratic politics: State, Nation, Democracy; Parapolitics of Democracy; Social Power and Democracy; Representation in Liberal Democracy; and Emerging Challenges of Democracy. These essays give a sense of the transformations and struggles that are underway in India, brought about by the dynamics of democratic politics. Each of the fifteen chapters focuses on one aspect, providing a unique analysis of the deepening of democracy in India.

Contents:

Introduction: 'A Political theory of Indian Democracy' by Peter Ronald deSouza

Section I: State, Nation, Democracy

Chapter 1: Historicizing India's Nationhood: History as Contemporary Politics

Chapter 2: State-Nation Building: The Making of Liberal Democracy

Chapter 3: Crisis of Political Authority

Section II: Parapolitics of Democracy

Chapter 4: Civil Society and Non-party Political Formations

Chapter 5: Transformative Politics of Grassroots Movements

Chapter 6: Law and Outcasts of Development

Section III: Social Power and Democracy

Chapter 7: Secularization of Caste and the Making of the New Middle-Class

Chapter 8: The Dalit Question in Four Frames

Chapter 12: The Great Language Debate: Politics of Metropolitan Versus Vernacular India

Section IV: Representation in Liberal Democracy

Chapter 10: Interests and Identities: The Changing Politics of Representation

Chapter 11: Minority Politics: The Shifting Terms of Policy Discourse

Chapter 12: Growth of Communal Polarization in Gujarat and the Making of a Hindutva Laboratory

Section V: Emerging Challenges of Democracy

Chapter 13: Revisiting the Reservations Policy

Chapter 14: Entering the Twenty-first Century: Changes in National Politics and Discourse

Chapter 15: Democratizing Global Governance: A Minimalist Perspective

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9811064113

9789811064111

OCLC:

996420554