Rajni Kothari Politics In India (2024)

Political stability comes from elites (political, bureaucratic, business, landowning) bargaining behind the scenes. Mass participation is real but mediated through elite-led organisations.

On interest groups, caste associations, and trade unions. These are transmission belts between society and state, but they are fragmented and often tied to political parties. Part III: The Political Process Ch. 6 – The Structure of Cleavages India’s social divisions (caste, language, religion, class) are cross-cutting – i.e., a high-caste person may be poor, a rich person may be from a lower caste. This prevents any single cleavage from polarising the system. rajni kothari politics in india

Even by 1970, cracks were appearing: Indira Gandhi’s centralising push vs. old regional bosses (“Syndicate”). Kothari warns that if Congress loses internal accommodation, the whole system might destabilise (prophetic – Emergency 1975–77). These are transmission belts between society and state,