Profiles the economics and politics of South Asia.

Subrata K. Mitra is Professor and Head, Department of Political Science at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi. He was Executive Director of the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg (2002-04), and President of the Research Committee on Political Sociology of the International Political Science Association and the International Sociological Association (2002-06). Professor Mitra has been a consultant to several national and international organizations, including UNESCO, the French Institute for Public Opinion (Paris) and the European Union. His previous publications include The Puzzle of India's Governance (Routledge, 2006), Democracy and Social Change and Culture and Rationality (both Sage, 1999) and Power, Protest and Participation (Routledge, 1992)
Siegfried O. Wolf specializes in Comparative Politics and Political Theory. He is a Lecturer in Political Science at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. Before starting his academic career, Siegfried Wolf had a two-year apprenticeship at one of Germany's most established financial groups and has since worked for various consultancies specializing in political communication world-wide. He has conducted fieldwork in South Asia for his research in affiliation with the Centre de Sciences Humaines located in New Delhi. In addition, he is Deputy Editor and Managing Editor of the Heidelberg Papers in South Asian Comparative Politics.
Jivanta Schöttli is Lecturer in International and Comparative Politics in the Department of Political Science at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, she holds degrees in international relations and history, and economic history. Having lived and worked in Asian capital cities and studied links between India and Japan and India and China, her research currently focuses on the institutionalization of politics in India since independence in 1947.

Foreword; Abbreviations; Notes on the Entries; Chapter 1 A; Chapter 2 B; Chapter 3 C; Chapter 4 D; Chapter 5 E; Chapter 6 F; Chapter 7 G; Chapter 8 H; Chapter 9 I; Chapter 10 J; Chapter 11 K; Chapter 12 L; Chapter 13 M; Chapter 14 N; Chapter 15 O; Chapter 16 P; Chapter 17 R; Chapter 18 S; Chapter 19 T; Chapter 20 U; Chapter 21 V; Chapter 22 W; Chapter 23 Z;