The Indian Parliament: A Democracy at Work

This book assesses the evolution of the Indian Parliament as an institution. By focusing on the changing dynamics of the Lok Sabha, the book demonstrates the changes in the idea of the nation as it reached out to encompass pluralism and diversity. It interrogates the prevalent notion of the decline of the Indian Parliament and argues that this institution cannot be understood in isolation. Rather, any such study needs to be organically linked to an analysis of the nature of Indian democracy. By exploring the extent to which both have continued to mutually shape each other, the book draws attention to the interface between politics and society. Addressing a major gap in scholarship on the Indian Parliament, the present volume eschews a conventional approach to institutional studies. It aligns the study of the institution with the examination of the historical, political, and cultural processes that are concurrent to it.