Pratap Bhanu Mehta

After Nearly Six Decades Of Its Existence, There Is A Pervasive Feeling That India S Democracy Is In Crisis. But What Is The Nature Of This Threat? In This Essay Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Reminding Us What A Bold Experiment Bringing Democracy To A Largely Illiterate And Unpropertied India Was, Argues That The Sphere Of Politics Has Truly Created Opportunities For People To Participate In Society. But, Looking At Various Facets, He Also Finds That Persistent Social Inequality On The One Hand, And A Mistaken View Of The State S Proper Function And Organization On The Other, Have Modified And Hindered The Workings Of Democracy And Its Effects In Innumerable Ways. Positing The Quest For Self-Respect As Democracy S Deepest Aspiration, This Essay Explores How Inequality And The Crisis Of Accountability Have Together Impeded Collective Action To Achieve Such An End. To Recover This Sense Of Moral Well Being And Responsibility, Mehta Suggests, Is The Core Of The Democratic Challenge Before Us. Optimistic, Lively And Closely Argued, The Burden Of Democracy Offers A New Ideological Imagination That Throws Light On Our Discontents. By Returning To The Basics Of Democracy It Serves To Illuminate Our Predicament, Even While Perceiving The Broad Contours For Change. Interrogating India Is A Series That Looks Critically At The Common Sense Prevailing On Some Of The Most Pressing Issues Of Our Times. Provocative And Incisive, It Has Essays On Themes Ranging From Secularism, Political Representation And Nationalism, To Corruption, Terrorism And Language, Which Figure Prominently In Today S Middle-Class Discourse. Passionate, Accessible And Opinionated, These Reflections From Some Of India S Best Minds Should Help Us Make Better Sense Of The Public Debate On These Issues While Hopefully Provoking Us To Respond To The Challenges They Present.

The Burden of Democracy

Devesh Kapur

Milan Vaishnav

Rethinking Public Institutions in India

After nearly seven decades of its existence, there is a pervasive feeling that India's democracy is in crisis. But what is the nature of this threat? In this essay, republished now with a new foreword from the author, Pratap Bhanu Mehtareminds us what a bold experiment bringing democracy to a largely illiterate and unpropertied India was. He argues that the sphere of politics has truly created opportunities for people to participate in society. Looking at various facts, he also finds that persistent social inequality on the one hand and a mistaken view of the state's proper function and organization on the other have modified and hindered the workings of democracy and its effects in innumerable ways. Posting the quest for self-respect as democracy's deepest aspiration, this essay explores how inequality and the crisis of accountability have together impeded collective action to achieve such an end. To recover this sense of moral well-being and responsibility, Mehta suggests, is the core of the democratic challenge before us. Optimistic, lively and closely argued, The Burden of Democracy offers a new ideological imagination that throws light on our discontents. By returning to the basics of democracy it serves to illuminate our predicament, even while perceiving the broad contours for change.

Sujit Choudhry

Madhav Khosla

As the first major post-colonial constitution, the Indian Constitution holds particular importance for the study of constitutional law and constitutions. Providing a thorough historical and political grounding, this Handbook examines key debates and developments in Indian constitutionalism and creates a framework for further study.

The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution

"The modern state secures legitimacy and carries out its tasks of governance and development through a diverse range of institutions. This volume analytically assesses the design, performance, and adaptability of the principal institutions of governance in India and their critical role in a democratic polity." "The volume looks at the Parliament, Presidency, institutions of internal accountability, the Judiciary, Police, and the Civil Service in addition to economic institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, as also several regulatory bodies, paying special attention to the variables like autonomy, accountability and information sharing that have affected the performance of different institutions across time." "Also included are essays that explore the critical role played by institutions in enhancing economic performance, strengthening federalism, and deepening the democratic impulse in India. In addition, they look at how electoral uncertainty has given a new lease of life to referee institutions like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court."--BOOK JACKET.

Performance and Design

Public Institutions in India

Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu

Bruce D. Jones

India faces a defining period. Its status as a global power is not only recognized but increasingly institutionalized, even as geopolitical shifts create both opportunities and challenges. With critical interests in almost every multilateral regime and vital stakes in emerging ones, India has no choice but to influence the evolving multilateral order. If India seeks to affect the multilateral order, how will it do so? In the past, it had little choice but to be content with rule taking—adhering to existing international norms and institutions. Will it now focus on rule breaking—challenging the present order primarily for effect and seeking greater accommodation in existing institutions? Or will it focus on rule shaping—contributing in partnership with others to shape emerging norms and regimes, particularly on energy, food, climate, oceans, and cyber security? And how do India's troubled neighborhood, complex domestic politics, and limited capacity inhibit its rule-shaping ability? Despite limitations, India increasingly has the ideas, people, and tools to shape the global order—in the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, "not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially." Will India emerge as one of the shapers of the emerging international order? This volume seeks to answer that question.

India and the Multilateral Order

Shaping the Emerging World

The Indian Constitution is one of the world's longest and most important political texts. Its birth, over six decades ago, signalled the arrival of the first major post-colonial constitution and the world's largest and arguably most daring democratic experiment. Apart from greater domestic focus on the Constitution and the institutional role of the Supreme Court within India's democratic framework, recent years have also witnessed enormous comparative interest in India's constitutional experiment. The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution is a wide-ranging, analytical reflection on the major themes and debates that surround India's Constitution. The Handbook provides a comprehensive account of the developments and doctrinal features of India's Constitution, as well as articulating frameworks and methodological approaches through which studies of Indian constitutionalism, and constitutionalism more generally, might proceed. Its contributions range from rigorous, legal studies of provisions within the text to reflections upon historical trends and social practices. As such the Handbook is an essential reference point not merely for Indian and comparative constitutional scholars, but for students of Indian democracy more generally.

While a growing private sector and a vibrant civil society can help compensate for the shortcomings of India’s public sector, the state is—and will remain—indispensable in delivering basic governance. In Rethinking Public Institutions in India, distinguished political and economic thinkers critically assess a diverse array of India’s core federal institutions, from the Supreme Court and Parliament to the Election Commission and the civil services. Relying on interdisciplinary approaches and decades of practitioner experience, this volume interrogates the capacity of India’s public sector to navigate the far-reaching transformations the country is experiencing. An insightful introduction to the functioning of Indian democracy, it offers a roadmap for carrying out fundamental reforms that will be necessary for India to build a reinvigorated state for the twenty-first century.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta

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