Ideology and Identity: The Changing Party Systems of India

Pradeep K Chhibber and Rahul Verma

In this book, the political scientists Pradeep Chhibber and Rahul Verma—respectively, a professor and a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley—reject the traditional view that Indian politics is defined by a patron–client relationship between politicians and their voters. Instead, they argue, ideology plays a key role, even if the Western understanding of the term does not apply. As they see it, the contours of ideological struggle in multi-ethnic states such as India are centred on the reach and purpose of the state, as well as the place of marginalised groups in society.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 336 PAGES, Rs 895