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"While there is overwhelming support for democracy in India and voter turnout is higher than in many Western democracies, there are low levels of trust in political parties and elected representatives. House of the People is an attempt to look beyond Indian elections, which have increasingly occupied analysts and commentators. The focus is the Lok Sabha (the House of the People or the Lower House), currently comprising 543 members directly elected for five years by potentially 800-million-plus voters in 2019. There are two questions that the book seeks to answer: Is the Indian parliament, which has the unenviable task of representing an incredibly diverse nation of a billion-plus people, working, if not in an exemplary manner, then at least reasonably well, to articulate the diverse demands of the electorate and translate them into legislation and policy? And to what extent has the practice of Indian democracy transformed the institution of parliament, which was adopted from the British, and its functioning?"--
List of contents
Introduction; 1. The road to parliamentary democracy: The Constituent Assembly and its prehistory; 2. Protean institution: The changing composition of parliament; 3. 'Please take your seat!': Disruptions in parliament; 4. Inside out: The parliamentary committee system; 5. Corruption, criminality and immunity; 6. Conclusion.
About the author
Ronojoy Sen is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore. He is the the author of Articles of Faith: Religion, Secularism, and the Indian Supreme Court (Oxford, 2010) and Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India (Columbia University Press, 2015).
Summary
This book provides insights into Indian parliament and democracy. It seeks to answer two questions: Is the Indian Parliament working to articulate the diverse demands of the electorate and translate them into legislation and policy? To what extent has the Indian democracy transformed the institution of parliament and its functioning?
Foreword
An institutional history of Indian parliament, democracy and politics combining archival materials, interviews and visuals.
