Political mercenaries and citizen soldiers

Indian elite political culture presents a negative perception of political parties and party functionaries, yet parties are the life blood of democracies. In India they play a no less important role than in the older and well established democracies of the West.

Based on carefully collected data the authors of this book analyze why and how people join and work for different types of political parties. Among others they examine such questions as: What type of functions do the local party functionaries perform?; How much money do the local party organizations collect and how is this money spent?; What is the nature of generational changes in the personnel of different parties?

In addition to examining the socio-economic origins of party functionaries the authors present an in-depth analysis of their political attitudes and orientations, asserting that there is a need for a more realistic picture of grass root party organization. They find that although parties attract a substantial number of political mercenaries they also contain a significant number of dedicated citizen soldiers. Idealism co-exists with political opportunism.