One of the most troubling critiques of contemporary democracy is the inability of representative governments to regulate the deluge of money in politics. If it is impossible to conceive of democracies without elections, it is equally impractical to imagine elections without money. Costs of Democracy is an exhaustive, ground-breaking study of money in Indian politics that opens readers’ eyes to the opaque and enigmatic ways in which money flows through the political veins of the world’s largest democracy. Through original, in-depth investigation—drawing from extensive fieldwork on political campaigns, pioneering surveys, and innovative data analysis—the contributors in this volume uncover the institutional and regulatory contexts governing the torrent of money in politics; the sources of political finance; the reasons for such large spending; and how money flows, influences, and interacts with different tiers of government. The book raises uncomfortable questions about whether the flood of money risks washing away electoral democracy itself.

Political parties are one of the core institutions of democracy. But in democracies around the world—rich and poor, Western and non-Western—there is growing evidence of low or declining public confidence in parties. In membership, organization, and popular involvement and commitment, political parties are not what they used to be. But are they in decline, or are they simply changing their forms and functions? In contrast to authors of most previous works on political parties, which tend to focus exclusively on long-established Western democracies, the contributors to this volume cover many regions of the world. Theoretically, they consider the essential functions that political parties perform in democracy and the different types of parties. Historically, they trace the emergence of parties in Western democracies and the transformation of party cleavage in recent decades. Empirically, they analyze the changing character of parties and party systems in postcommunist Europe, Latin America, and five individual countries that have witnessed significant change: Italy, Japan, Taiwan, India, and Turkey. As the authors show, political parties are now only one of many vehicles for the representation of interests, but they remain essential for recruiting leaders, structuring electoral choice, and organizing government. To the extent that parties are weak and discredited, the health of democracy will be seriously impaired. Contributors: Larry Diamond and Richard Gunther • Hans Daalder • Philippe Schmitter • Seymour Martin Lipset • Giovanni Sartori • Bradley Richardson • Herbert Kitschelt • Michael Coppedge • Ergun Ozbudun • Yun-han Chu • Leonardo Morlino • Ashutosh Varshney and E. Sridharan • Stefano Bartolini and Peter Mair.

India’s party system has been under flux, transformation and reconfiguration since the end of the 1980s. By the time the sun set on the twentieth century, the party system in India had developed a plurality of national and regional levels and following several experiences in fits and starts, coalition making among the parties too stabilized at the national level. The dawn of twenty first century thus witnessed a federalized party system in place, where coalition making and cohabitation amongst the parties stabilized at both national and regional levels. As a result, since 1999 India has had two completing governments completing their full term at the national level; the third, UPA II, has completed four years, and despite hiccups is likely to complete its full term till mid-2013. However, the party system in the country has turned competitive and several trajectories of alternation are being attempted by parties and leaders, making the emerging political situation fluid. The volume attempts to capture the emerging trajectories of the party system in India in the second decade of the twenty first century with seventeen essays written specially for this volume by scholars who met several times to discuss and formulate questions and critique each other’s drafts. Overall, the volume provides an incisive and comprehensive analysis of the far-reaching changes that India’s political parties and party system are undergoing. It looks into the institutional dimensions, processes and agenda, federal manifestations, transitions (including generational change) and extraneous influences brought in by globalization, Indian Diaspora and the impact of new media technology. Constituting an important contribution to the on-going debate on the Indian party system, this volume will attract the attention of students of Indian politics, political science, democracy, party systems and comparative politics.

Wilkinson.--William Crawley "Asian Affairs"

‘Indian Democracy’ is an attempt to understand the development of democratic polity in India. It covers a wide range of issues – theoretical concepts, political institutions, federalism, electoral process, individual and group rights and mass media – drawing attention to the significant broadening of Indian democracy.

Leading scholars consider how democracy has taken root in India despite poverty, illiteracy and ethnic diversity.