Problems & promise of American democracy/ by Jack Allen...[et al]

The specifics of Indian Politics are determined by the structures of society and its historical experiences. The dialectics of the process of politics of the last four decades, the institutional arrangements for governance, and the strategies of the dominant classes have revealed many contradictory trends and tendencies. The level of political con sciousness of the Indian people has increased and the political system is involved in a struggle to reconcile the irreconcilable demands of the socially powerful classes with the legitimate aspirations of the oppress ed and vulnerable strata of society.

While the socially powerful groups are in full control of the political system, the emerging challenges from the exploited strata of society are being responded to by a mix of state coercion and manipulation of pre-capitalist identities based on caste and religion. The strategies adopted by the exploiting classes for political legitimation are getting exhausted and social and political conflicts are becoming quite sharp. The book attempts to address itself to some of these questions.