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Free Download Indian Democracy: Meanings and Practices By Rajendra Vora (editor), Suhas Vasant Palshikar (editor)
2004 | 428 Pages | ISBN: 0761997903 | PDF | 81 MB
This volume examines how Indian democracy has survived the challenges posed by widespread illiteracy, poverty, secessionism and communalism―problems that have felled the fledgling democratic institutions of so many post-colonial societies. The contributors locate the reason for the resilience of Indian democracy in its history―that it was the product of a gradual evolution and not of a sudden imposition from above. The essays in the volume, however, show that despite having stood the test of time, Indian democracy is not a democracy in any substantive sense. The economic policies of successive governments since 1985 have been basically anti-people; rampant casteism, communalism, and the use of money and muscle power have infiltrated the body politic. Mass mobilization has been powered by hate, making it a feature more typical of a nascent neo-fascist state than of a democracy. The `substantialization of democracy'―proper representation and people's participation in decision making―still remains a distant ideal.