Party System in India

India’s party system has been under flux, transformation and reconfiguration since the end of the 1980s. By the time the sun set on the twentieth century, the party system in India had developed a plurality of national and regional levels and following several experiences in fits and starts, coalition making among the parties too stabilized at the national level. The dawn of twenty first century thus witnessed a federalized party system in place, where coalition making and cohabitation amongst the parties stabilized at both national and regional levels. As a result, since 1999 India has had two completing governments completing their full term at the national level; the third, UPA II, has completed four years, and despite hiccups is likely to complete its full term till mid-2013. However, the party system in the country has turned competitive and several trajectories of alternation are being attempted by parties and leaders, making the emerging political situation fluid.


The volume attempts to capture the emerging trajectories of the party system in India in the second decade of the twenty first century with seventeen essays written specially for this volume by scholars who met several times to discuss and formulate questions and critique each other’s drafts. Overall, the volume provides an incisive and comprehensive analysis of the far-reaching changes that India’s political parties and party system are undergoing. It looks into the institutional dimensions, processes and agenda, federal manifestations, transitions (including generational change) and extraneous influences brought in by globalization, Indian Diaspora and the impact of new media technology. Constituting an important contribution to the on-going debate on the Indian party system, this volume will attract the attention of students of Indian politics, political science, democracy, party systems and comparative politics.