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POLITICAL SCIENCE. VOLUME 2, INDIAN DEMOCRACY. ICSSR Research Surveys and Explorations. Edited by K.C. Suri; general editor, Achin Vanaik. Box edition. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013. 352 pp. ISBN 978-0-19808495-2.
The general introduction by the series editor, Achin Vanaik, describes the purpose of the series, of which this is the second volume. The authors of the chapters were permitted to draw on earlier work as they saw fit and asked to give their contribution a personal stamp, so that in addition to a straightforward survey, which would be of limited value, readers would get a further layer of interpretation and synthesis on the topics under discussion. Vanaik's chapter makes it clear that "political science" was not to be defined narrowly. His own personal stamp is to argue for social forces to be taken seriously in the study of Indian politics, political economy and foreign policy. He also conveys a very good sense of how various post-positivist strands come together to constitute a distinctively Indian approach to studying politics.
In their chapter, Neera Chandhoke and Rajesh Kumar thoughtfully map out the various ways in which Indian democracy has been interpreted and understood. Also, they note that government by coalition has changed the character of Indian democracy, by allowing, among other things, regulatory institutions to be more assertive, just as representative institutions became less decisive. Of particular importance has been the activism of the Supreme Court, which is discussed in detail, with reference to...