Author: Maya Chadda
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 246
ISBN/UPC (if available): 170369754
Description
Provides an entirely fresh perspective on South Asia's tumultuous and often bewildering path to democracy.
While there are many books which study the process of transition from authoritarianism to democracy in the international political context, very few of them discuss how South Asia's political experience fits in with the current discourse on third wave democracies. Professor Chadda - while not disagreeing with the need to build a prosperous, people-oriented, stable and free democracy - instead emphasizes the importance of studying democratization in the framework of state consolidation, national integration, and the concepts of individual and group rights.
Studying the process of democratization in India, Nepal and Pakistan, the author discusses a number of contemporary developments including:
- The repeated dismissals of elected governments in Pakistan;
- The dilemmas that India faces as a consequence of changes in caste politics, separatist confrontations in Punjab and the northeast, and the end of the Congress Party's dominance;
- The Political and ideological contest over Kashmir in both India and Pakistan; and
- The Movement to Restore Democracy leading to a constitutional monarchy in Nepal.
In surveying these recent events, Maya Chadda's purpose is to demonstrate that India, Pakistan, and Nepal represent a distinctive third way of combining democracy with market forces. S such, she stands between the competing claims of Western liberal democracy and those who propound the unique nature of the Asian model.
The author also argues that he current discourse on democratization fails to realistically asses the relationship between state and society and therefore has misunderstood the role of conflict and violence in South Asia.
Contents
List of Maps
List of Acronyms
Preface
ONE
Introduction
TWO
The History of the Democratic Experience in South Asia
THREE
President vs. Prime Minister : Democratization in Pakistan
FOUR
King Vs. Parliament : Democratization in Nepal
FIVE
State and Democracy : The Politics of Consolidation in India
SIX
Conflict and Democracy : Kashmir in South Asia
SEVEN
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
About the Book