Book Reviews : Politics In India. By RAJNI KOTHARI. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1970. Pp. xvi, 461. $4.75.) India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation. By ROBERT L. HARD- GRAVE, JR. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1970. Pp. viii, 211. $2.95.)

• Date: 01 December 1970
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297002300425
• Author: Daljit Singh
• Published date: 01 December 1970
• Subject Matter: Articles

889

he

had

excellent

access

during

his

field

research.

Nevertheless,

several

small

mis-

takes

escaped

the

proofreader

and

an

occasional

transliteration

from

German

or

Portuguese

strains

an

otherwise

lucid

text.

Georgia

State

University

H.

Ross

HAMMOND

Politics

In

India.

By RAJNI

KOTHARI.

(Boston:

Little,

Brown

and

Company,

1970.

Pp. xvi, 461.

$4.75.)

India:

Government

and

Politics

in

a

Developing

Nation.

By

ROBERT

L.

HARD-

GRAVE,

JR.

(New

York:

Harcourt,

Brace

and

World,

Inc.,

1970.

Pp.

viii,

211.

$2.95.)

Only

a

few

years

ago,

there

was

such

a

shortage

of

suitable

introductory

books

on

Indian

politics

that

professors

in

American

colleges

often

skipped

reference

to

India while

giving

courses

in

comparative

Asian

governments.

This

is

no

longer

true.

The

beginning

of

the

seventies

already

has

seen

publication

of

two

good

basic

books

added

to

an

ever-growing

bibliography.

One

of

these

is

Rajni

Kothari’s

Politics

in

India,

a

work

which

provides

one

of

the

best

surveys

so

far

published.

Kothari

breaks

away

from

the

traditional

and

institutional

approach

and

offers

us

new

insights

via

development

theory.

An

intellectual

and

a

critic

of

the

Indian

polity,

Kothari

lays

special

emphasis

upon

the

role

of

the

intellectuals

and

their

contribution

to

the

modernization

process,

the

role

of

castes

in

the

sharing

of

power,

and

the

development

of

political

parties

to

enhance

the

democratic

process.

Although

he

sees

a

real

danger

from

such

disintegrating

elements

as

politicians

switching

party

affiliations

for

personal

gain,

he

remains

optimistic

about

the

sys-

tem’s

potential

for

stability.

His

great

hope

lies

with

the

institution

of

Panchayati

Ra j

which

is

producing

a

new

generation

of

politicians

as

modernizers

-

men

who

will

provide

essential

continuity

to

the

system.

There

remains

one

disappointment

in

that

the

book

fails

to

deal

with

any

aspect

of

the

Indian

military

-

a

shortcom-

ing

of

many

works

by

Indian

scholars.

While

Politics

in

India

will

claim

a

large

audience

among

upper

division

and

graduate

students,

Hardgrave’s

India:

Government

and

Politics

in

a

Developing

Nation,

is

intended

to

be

an

introductory

work.

The

book

is

concise

and

follows

the

methodological

pattern

set

by

Norman

D.

Palmer

and

Richard

Park.

Accord-

ing

to

Hardgrave,

the

purpose

of

the

volume

is

&dquo;...

to

provide

a

sense

of

the

cul-

tural

and

historical

milieu

in

which

political

development

takes

place

and

to

give

a

balanced

treatment

to

both

structure

and

process,

of

both

institutions

and

behavior,

in

Indian

politics.&dquo;

It

seems

that

the

first

chapter,

&dquo;The

Challenge

of

Development,&dquo;

in

which

such

varying

topics

as

urbanization,

the

caste

system

and

concept

of

Dharma

in

Hinduism,

and

poor

land

conditions,

are

discussed,

is

not

only

out

of

context

but

too

brief

to

do

justice

to

any

of

the

subjects.

Despite

the

lack

of

continuity

of

the

first

chapter

with

that

which

follows,

the

remainder

of

the

book

is

well

written

and

a

useful

addition

to

the

literature.

Bemidji

State

College

DALJIT

SINGH