House of the People : Parliament and the Making of Indian Democracy

While there is overwhelming support for democracy in India and voter turnout is higher than in many Western democracies, there are low levels of trust in political parties and elected representatives. This book is an attempt to look beyond Indian elections, which has increasingly occupied analysts and commentators. It focuses on the Lok Sabha (The House of the People), comprising 543 members directly elected for five years by a potential 800 million plus voters in 2019. The book seeks to answer two questions: Is the Indian Parliament, which has the unenviable task of representing a diverse nation of a billion-plus people, working, if not in an exemplary manner, at least reasonably well, to articulate the diverse demands of the electorate and translate them into legislation and policy? To what extent has the practice of Indian democracy transformed the institution of parliament, which was adopted from the British, and its functioning? "While there is overwhelming support for democracy in India and voter turnout is higher than in many Western democracies, there are low levels of trust in political parties and elected representatives. House of the People is an attempt to look beyond Indian elections, which have increasingly occupied analysts and commentators. The focus is the Lok Sabha (the House of the People or the Lower House), currently comprising 543 members directly elected for five years by potentially 800-million-plus voters in 2019. There are two questions that the book seeks to answer: Is the Indian parliament, which has the unenviable task of representing an incredibly diverse nation of a billion-plus people, working, if not in an exemplary manner, then at least reasonably well, to articulate the diverse demands of the electorate and translate them into legislation and policy? And to what extent has the practice of Indian democracy transformed the institution of parliament, which was adopted from the British, and its functioning?"-- Provided by publisher An institutional history of Indian parliament, democracy and politics combining archival materials, interviews and visuals.