Divided We Stand: India in a Time of CoalitionsSAGE Publications, 2007 - 524 من الصفحات This topical and absorbing book, written by two eminent journalists, explains why India has entered a new era of coalition politics. It analyses the consequences and implications of this relatively recent phenomenon. India has come a long way from the time since the Congress dominated the country's polity. The authors argue that the multi-party structure of government, or a coalition government, is neither temporary nor an aberration. Coalitions are here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future. The authors dismiss the view that India's polity is essentially bipolar, that is, led by either of the two largest political parties - the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. They do not accede to the contention that other political parties have no option but to align themselves with either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. Continuing the analysis begun in their earlier work, India in a Time of Coalitions: Divided we Stand (Sage, 2004) both authors skilfully piece together the complex jigsaw of Indian politics. The authors point to the fragmentation of Indian polity with the rise of caste-based and regional parties and the formation of coalitions at the federal as well as provincial levels. This, they say, should not be perceived as a negative feature but as a positive influence on the working of the country's democratic structures. The authors take the view that coalition governments are in fact better equipped to deal with the tensions of India's deeply divided and highly hierarchical society. In comparison, governments dominated by single parties tend to both centralize and homogenize. Among the issues the book analyzes are " The impact of the April-May 2004 general elections that saw the dramatic decline of the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP and its replacement by a government formed by the United Progressive Alliance coalition led by the Congress with outside support from four left parties " A gradual revival in the fortunes of the Congress after the party had witnessed its traditional supporters - including the minorities and the disadvantaged groups - deserting it in large numbers " The sudden rise and fall of the BJP from the time it was almost wiped out in 1984, the party's faction-ridden character and its inability to quickly come to terms with its electoral defeat in 2004 " The growing importance and the changing tactics of the left parties, their internal differences and mainstreaming and their influence on the country's economic policies " The crucial question of whether coalitions can provide stable governments and under what circumstances " The possibility of alternate political formations - led neither by the Congress nor the BJP - coming to power at the centre " The extent to which political coalitions have led to better governance, brought about a greater degree of federalism and reduced the incidence of corruption " The manner in which successive governments have handled the new politics of economic liberalization and globalization together with the crucial issue of growth with equity Challenging many commonly held views regarding India's political processes, this fascinating book will delight anyone interested in Indian politics at the beginning of the 21st century. |
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... Less than half or only 261 of the 543 MPs in the Lok Sabha were able to retain their seats . While the Congress managed to increase its tally from 114 to 145 seats in the Lok Sabha , it was able to retain only 49 ( or just over 40 per ...
... less cussed ) . A Democratic Party ? The Congress boasts that it is the ' largest democratic party in the world ' . The epithet ' democratic ' may once have described the grand old party of the Indian freedom movement quite accurately ...
... less than 0.4 per cent in the 1985 Lok Sabha elections to 33 per cent in the 1999 elections , the AGP's share of the total votes cast had crashed from 27.2 per cent in 1996 to per cent in 1998 and less than 12 per cent by 1999 . 12.7 In ...
المحتوى
List of Abbreviations | 8 |
Preface 33333 | 13 |
Acknowledgements | 33 |
حقوق النشر | |
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