State politics in India: explorations in political process in Jammu and Kashmir

This book studies the political institutions of and political processes in the State of Jammu and Kashmir since independence. The State of Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a unique constitutional position in the Indian Union.

The anthor has provided a systemic analysis of all the vital segments of political life in Jammu and Kashmir. He first traces the development of political institutions in the State and analyses them as they exist today. An important segment of the book deals with the legislative elite, their sociological structure and the process of politicization, their role perceptions and performance and the role of women. His conclusions are drawn on the basis of exhaustive interviews.

The book also provides an analysis of the critical problems which affect the fun ning of state political institutions, like the decline of legislative authority, the instability of state governments as a result of inter-party defections and intra-party factionalism and the implications of a single-party dominant system in the absence of a viable opposition.