Unlike other studies on Indian politics which focus on the national level, this Handbook maps the changes in the functioning of India's federal democratic politics since independence. It deals with areas such as democratization, regions and regionalism, political parties and electoral politics, and economic reform. The chapters provide a detailed understanding of some of the significant developments and challenges faced by Indian politics today.

• List of Tables and Figures


• Acknowledgements


• Publisher's Acknowledgements


• List of Abbreviations


• Introduction, Sudha Pai


• PART I: REGIONS AND REGIONALISM: HISTORICAL LEGACIES AND PRESENT-DAY DEMANDS


• 1. Indian Civilization and Regional Cultures: The Two Realities, Ainslie T. Embree


• 2. States Reorganization Commission: A Critical Reading, Asha Sarangi


• 3. Integration through Internal Reorganization: Containing Ethnic Conflict in India, Maya Chadda


• 4. The Continuing Struggle for India's Jharkhand: Democracy, Decentralization, and the Politics of Names and Numbers, Stuart Corbridge


• 5. Divided We Stand: Identity and Protest in the Demand for a Separate Hill State of Uttaranchal, Emma E. Mawdsley


• PART II: POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTORAL POLITICS IN THE STATES


• 6. The Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh: Dominance, Decline, and Revival? Sudha Pai


• 7. Coalition Strategies and the BJP's Expansion, 1989-2004, E. Sridharan


• 8. A Shift towards Regionalization of Indian Politics, Sanjay Kumar


• 9. From Dominance to Disarray: The Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, K.C. Suri


• 10. The Changing Nature of Tamil Nadu, John Harriss and Andrew Wyatt


• 11. Asom Gana Parishad: Rise and Prospects, Sandhya Goswami


• 12. Left in the Lurch: The Demise of the World's Longest Elected Regime? Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya


• PART III: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND POLITICS IN THE STATES


• 13. Decline of Backward Caste Politics in Northern India: From Caste-Politics to Caste-Politics, Anil Kumar Verma


• 14. Dalit Assertion in Tamil Nadu, M.S.S. Pandian


• 15. A Beggar's Song of Democracy: A Study of Invisible Dalits, Badri Narayan


• 16. The Bahujan Samaj Party: Its Shifting Strategies of Subaltern Mobilization in Uttar Pradesh, Sohini Guha


• 17. Small States in Large Democracy: Ethnic Minorities in a Majoritarian Indian Polity, Sajal Nag


• PART IV: ECONOMIC REFORMS AND STATE POLITICS: CHANGING PATTERNS


• 18. Iconization of Chandrababu: Sharing Sovereignty in India's Federal Market Economy, Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph


• 19. Globalization and State Disparities in India, Baldev Raj Nayar


• 20. Unravelling Bihar's 'Growth Miracle', Chirashree Das Gupta


• 21. State Capitalism: Provincial Governance, Private Enterprise, and Protest Politics in India's Special Economic Zones, Rob Jenkins


• 22. Hype, Skill, and Class: The Politics of Reforms in Andhra Pradesh, 1995-2004 and Beyond, Jos Mooij


• Epilogue, Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya


• Notes on Contributors