Politics and governance in Indian states : Bihar, West Bengal and Tripura

"Understanding India's politics and governance requires an examination of how politics and governance occur in the regional States, which constitute the federal units of India. This book addresses the issues of federalism, power-sharing and constitutional reforms, and their effects on governance in Indian States. Located within the growing literature on new State politics in India, this volume presents a critical, in-depth analysis of politics in Bihar, West Bengal and Tripura -- these States being units of analysis for more general implications. What common obstacles have impeded development in each State, and what factors have favored recent, rapid development in some States but not others? The issues of caste conflicts, ethnic conflicts and other collective identity issues will be examined in this book -- a pioneer volume with detailed, empirically-based research on the implications of State-centric politics in India"-- Provided by publisher Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations About the Authors 1 Introduction: Politics and Governance in Indian States 2 Order, Governance and Legitimacy: Method, Model and Data 3 Federalism as an Institutional Response to Diversity: Power-sharing and Constitutional Reforms in India 4 Constitutional Reform and Accommodation of Identity in India since 1950 5 Marxist Rule and Democratic Governance in West Bengal 6 Sub-State-level Power-Sharing in West Bengal: The Creation of Gorkhaland and Empowerment of Panchayats 7 Bihar: Stalemated Class Conflict and the Crisis of Governance 8 Bringing Governance Back in Again: State Partition, Emergence of Jharkhand and the Naxalite Challenge 9 Ethnic Conflict and Governance in Tripura 10 Constitutional Reforms and Power-sharing: Political Accommodation of Tribal Identity in Tripura 11 Regional Governance in a Changed Context: India after 1991 12 Conclusion: Governing India’s Regions Vernacular Terms Appendix: Elite questionnaire: Regional Governance in India Bibliography Index