Contents: Preface. 1. Our democratic polity : Minority and coalition governments/Karan Singh. 2. Coalition politics : In India and abroad/V.N. Gadgil. 3. Coalition politics : Suitability for India/Vasant Sathe. 4. National dilemma : Regionalisation of politics and power/U.C. Agarwal. 5. Processes of polarisation/S.R. Mohnot. 6. Coalition governments: 1946-1996/S.R. Maheshwari. 7. Refurbishing Indian politics : Power to the states for survival of the centre/Upendra Vajpeyi. 8. Power politics : From Yesteryears to coming years/Y.C. Halan. 9. The 11th general elections to Lok Sabha : Context, verdict and message/G.R.S. Rao. 10. The cabinet system in a coalition situation/Ajay K. Mehra. 11. Mandate of the people : Task before the united front government/E. Sadasiva Reddy. 12. Trading cows, not horses : Towards clean politics/A.K. Verma. 13. Working of the coalition : An assessment/Vinod Saighal. 14. Coalition politics : The Kerala model/N. Jose Chander. 15. The new coalition experiment : Indian metamorphosis/J.S. Bali. 16. New federalism in India : Pledges of the united front coalition/Mahendra Prasad Singh. Index.
"India is currently engaged in a new political experiment with wide ranging and long lasting ramifications. The very special variant of coalition politics and a 13-party minority coalition government might prove to be of tremendous relevance, transcending the country's frontiers.
The present study contains valuable contributions from eminent scholars, administrators and publicmen. The focus is on the most recent political developments following the electoral verdict, emergence of a 'hung Parliament' and formation of two minority governments in quick succession - the first a one-party minority government and the second i.e. the present multi-party minority coalition government. Separate articles are devoted to models of coalition politics at the state level as also to the experience of other countries.
The effort here is to provide a better understanding of current problems and developments. The approach is entirely non-partisan and different aspects of the issue and different view-points find free expression." (jacket)
