000			01813nam a22001817a 4500
999			_c39720 _d39720
020			_a81-7541-249-6
082			_a321.80954 _bROY-D
100			_aRoy, Ramashray
245			_aDemocracy in India: _bForm and Substance / _cRamashray Roy
260			_aDelhi: _bShipra Publications, _c©2005
300			_avii, 278p.
504			_aincludes bibliography and index
520			_aThe book exposes the organic defects of formal democracy and demonstrates its weakness in satisfying the aspirations of the demos for participation and equality. Effort is made to take the discussion of democratic theory to a higher level where theory and history mingle to provide a better vantage point from which to view the phenomenon of democracy. Also, the theoretical perspective projected in Democracy in India: Form and Substance presents a critical account of the functioning of democratic institutions in India and shows its vulnerable aspects. The approach adopted in Democracy in India: Form and Substance differs sharply from other studies. Most of these treat formal, representative democracy as the last chapter in the evolution of the democratic idea since its appearance in Greece. It is considered, without questioning, as a universally valid model of democracy. Also, it is supposed to solve, finally and satisfactorily, the paradox of freedom versus liberty. But formal democracy is the symbol of the defeat of democracy by democratic ideology. This ideology celebrates only the external form of democracy drowning its substance in the din of vacuous academic discussion by pundits and soothsayers of democracy praising to the skies the characteristics and the merit of formal democracy.
650			_aDemocracy—India
650			_aPolitics and government
650			_aPolitical participation
942			_2ddc _cBK