Political society in developing countries

This book is about some of the dos and don'ts, normative as well as pragmatic, which underlie the working of liberal political institutions, and which the developing countries of our time have difficulty in grasping. It argues that in the establishment, effective operation and survival of such institutions, a repeatedly arrived at balance between what is normatively desirable and what is politically possible is crucial. Such a balance has to manifest itself in the political conduct of people on both sides of the power divide. Furthermore, it emphasises the need for the realisation on the part of those who operate liberal institutions as well as those who are served by them, that, despite all the shortcomings, such institu tions are worth preserving to protect the freedoms, interests and well-being of all concerned.

Towards the vulnerability and fragility of liberal political institutions in developing countries, wherever and to whatever extent they exist, a number of explanations have been offered in scholarly writings. They range from the lack of economic progress, the absence of a committed political elite to defend them in times of crisis, the presence of peculiar cultural conditions inimical to a questioning political culture, and the impatience and ambition of interfering men in military uniform. Arguably all these explanations identify some of the dimensions of the problem and formulate their own explanations around them. In such an exercise one of the least explored areas is whether the people of the non-Western world can learn - given the aspiration of substantial segments of its elite towards political liberalism, and also its own shortcomings and reverses in sustaining legal and political institutions to assimilate and act on certain imperatives, both moral and political.