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Synopsis This volume examines the past accomplishments and continuing challenges facing Indian democracy. India has long stood out as a remarkable exception to theories holding that low level of economic development and high levels of social diversity pose formidable obstacles to the successful establishment and maintenance of democratic government. More than sixty years after its independence, India has become an even more important object of study for scholars of comparative democracy. In recent decades, India has proven itself capable not only of preserving democracy, but of deepening and broadening it by moving to a more inclusive brand of politics. Political participation has widened, electoral alternation has intensified and civil society has pressed more vigorously for institutional reforms and greater government accountability. Yet political scientists still have not devoted to this country, with more than one-sixth of the world's population, the kind of attention that it warrants. The essays in The State of India's Democracy focus on India's economy, society and politics, providing illuminating insights into the working of Indian democracy. This timely and topical volume will be useful for students and scholars of Indian politics as well as to all observers of India's democratic processes and institutions.