Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Salient features of the Indian constitution -- Founding fetters of the constitution -- The preamble -- Fundamental rights -- Fundamental duties -- Directive principles of state policy -- Federalism -- Parliamentary system -- Amending procedures -- Concluding observations -- Federalism -- Demystifying Indian polity -- Federalism in India -- The federal arrangement: its evolution -- Concluding observations -- The executive system in theory and practice -- Adopting the executive system -- The president -- The prime minister -- The council of ministers -- Bureaucracy -- Concluding observations -- Parliament -- A thoughtful choice -- Limitations/features of Indian parliament -- Composition of the parliament -- Changing socio-economic profile -- Concluding observations -- State executive -- Features of the state executive -- Office of the governor -- Chief minister -- The council of ministers -- Concluding observations -- The judiciary -- Perspectives of the constituent assembly -- Supreme court -- High courts -- Judicial review -- Public interest litigation -- Judicial activism -- Judicial reforms -- Union public service commission -- Election commission -- Comptroller and auditor general -- Finance commission -- Concluding observations -- Planning and economic development -- Concept of planned development -- Genesis and development of planning in India -- Role of the planning commission -- Planning in the era of liberalization -- Concluding observations -- Statutory institutions and commissions -- National commission for backward classes -- National commission for women -- National human rights commission -- National commission for minorities -- Concluding observations -- The Indian party system -- Evolution of the Indian party system -- Coalition governments at the centre and the states -- Pressure groups in Indian politics -- Elites in Indian party system -- Contemporary trends in Indian party system -- Concluding observations -- The evolution of Indian administration -- Genesis of administration in India -- Aspects of the Mughal administration -- Legacies of the British rule -- Developments during the rule of the company -- Developments in Indian administration since 1857 -- Concluding observations -- Panchayati governance in India -- Local self-government in India -- Structure of the Panchayati Raj institutions -- Powers and functions of the Panchayats -- Role of women and other marginalized sections of the society -- Rural development: Panchayats and the bureaucracy -- Issues in effective functioning of the Panchayats -- Role of Panchayati Raj in the era of liberlization -- Concluding observations -- Major issues in Indian politics -- Mandal II: reservation for social justice or appropriation by the creamy layer? -- Religion and Indian politics -- Complex political texture -- Economic reforms and Indian politics -- Deepening of democracy -- Gender -- Environment -- Concluding observations -- Conclusion -- Model questions -- Index -- About the authors.