Asymmetric Federalism in India: Ethnicity, Development and Governance

This book provides a critical account of federal asymmetry in India - its origins, context, forms and functioning - by taking into account the institutional effectiveness of asymmetric institutions in the regions for identity fulfillment, development and governance. It argues that while some asymmetry, de jure/ or de facto, is part of all federations for meeting some special circumstances, in India, which has followed a different path of federation building, asymmetric institutional solutions especially in the border areas have played a crucially important role in accommodating ethno-cultural diversity, ensuring law and order, a level of development and governance in a process that has turned the 'rebels into stakeholders'. India's federal asymmetric designs and their working has been a key to holding the peripheries within the Union of India. The book utilizes both archival research and empirical survey data, as well as elite interviews.

Author: Harihar Bhattacharyya
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 02/15/2024
Pages: 220
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.27h x 5.83w x 0.55d
ISBN: 9783031237294

About the Author

Harihar Bhattacharyya is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Burdwan, India. He holds a PhD in Government from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He taught at the South Asia Institute a the University of Heidelberg, Germany, Hull University, UK, Institute of Federalism, Fribourg, and Delhi University, India.