The State of India's Democracy draws together four articles from the Journal of Democracy's April 2007 issue (by Steve Wilkinson on elections, Pratap Bhanu Mehta on judicial sovereignty, Rob Jenkins on civil society and corruption, and Aseema Sinha on economic reform) and eight additional chapters from a distinguished group of international scholars. Editor Sumit Ganguly points out that Indian democratization and democratic consolidation are “anomalies” in the literature on democracy (p. ix). Despite a large number of poor and illiterate citizens and a plethora of cultural and social divisions, India has remained democratic. The authors draw on their research (in political science, criminal justice, economics, and other disciplines) and professional experience (contributor Praveen Swami is an award-winning journalist) to shed light on this puzzling outcome. These diverse contributors offer a variety of viewpoints that make for a well-rounded discussion of the state of India's democracy. Ganguly's brief history of the development of Indian democracy offers an analysis of its achievements and its shortcomings, notably extreme economic inequality, identity based conflict, and corruption, all discussed in more detail in the chapters that follow.

Aside from some references to Pakistan and some brief comparisons in discussions of the democratization literature, the chapters rarely venture outside of India. Yet several subjects covered would be interesting to discuss comparatively in an American classroom, including antiterrorism legislation, discussed by Sumit Ganguly and Rajat Ganguly, and preventive detention (both colonial and contemporary), discussed by Arvind Verma. Chapters relating to Indian elections will trigger discussions of similarities with the United States, such as dynastic politics (p. 17) and contrasts, such as extreme anti-incumbency (p. 29) and higher rates of voting in poorer populations (pp. 81, 83).

Several chapters reinforce Mehta's provocative suggestion that India has symptoms of “postdemocracy,” defined as “representative institutions … losing power to nonelected centers of decision making” (p. 109). His chapter documents the growing role of the judiciary, which has decreed “the right level of air pollution, the appropriate amount of school fees, the height of dams” (p. 117). Representative institutions are also undermined when the laws they pass are simply not implemented. Verma includes a vivid description of lawlessness in Bihar, along with his socioeconomic analysis of the lack of political will to reform the national police system (pp. 132–34). Christophe Jaffrelot warns of the declining power of representative institutions, just as they are becoming more representative in terms of the growing number of lower-caste officials. “The subalterns are taking over, but the middle classes can have their concerns fixed in other ways … by approaching those in office directly and circumventing the democratic institutions” (p. 83). Rob Jenkins's study of “anticorruption clientalism” illustrates the extent to which even anticorruption activists are utilizing patron–client relationships (pp. 172–73). Both Jenkins and Niraja Gopal Jayal describe one check on the trend toward unaccountable postdemocracy, the innovative practice of jan sunwai, in which government projects are audited through public readings of documents and testimony by the relevant laborers or applicants (pp. 149, 166).

Authors offer a variety of conclusions about the relationship between political participation (in a variety of forms) and economic well-being. Sinha assumes that those “toiling at precarious, low-paying, informal-sector jobs, perhaps while living in backwater regions or moving frequently in search of work” are unlikely to see political organization as a solution (p. 202). She concludes that the “losers” in the economic liberalization process are too isolated to become a political challenge (pp. 202, 205). Jaffrelot, on the other hand, notes that “illiterate Dalit peasants have been voting in larger numbers than Delhi-based executives” and that the “urban middle class does not vote in large numbers anymore” (pp. 81, 83). Sunila S. Kale falls in the middle, observing in her work on autonomy movements that “movements have been most vocal and organized not in the poorest regions … but in the regions of intermediate development” (p. 215).

The value added beyond the original journal articles make this book well worth reading for scholars of democracy—or practitioners. Both political scientists and strategists should read Wilkinson's chapter, debunking popular explanations of the Bharatiya Janata Party's 2004 loss and analyzing the pivotal role of alliances and seat adjustment deals. The text would be appropriate for graduate seminars on Asian or South Asian politics or comparative democracy. Most undergraduates would need an introduction to the country, its history, and its key political actors, despite useful background information in some chapters (particularly M. V. Rajeev Gowda and E. Sridaran's, helpfully placed first). Supplementary readings would be needed to cover, in adequate depth, gender, religion, and more critical perspectives on economic liberalization.

Students contemplating research papers on the media, the police, caste politics, ethnic conflict, or civil society would find individual chapters useful overviews from which to draw topics. Several authors draw attention to topics for future research: Mehta notes the need for “concrete, empirical data on the effects of court interventions” (p. 117). Swami laments the lack of “multilanguage content analysis in Indian-media studies,” analysis that could shed light on the vernacular media's potential impact on secular values (pp. 184–86). Kale's chapter on autonomy movements and Subrata Mitra's on federalism leave unanswered a key question for future researchers: Why did Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttaranchal become states in 2000, while other movements, including Kale's case studies, did not result in statehood?

There is no comprehensive bibliography, but individual chapter notes are current and useful. A more extensive index would allow the reader to find scattered discussions by multiple authors of important topics that are not indexed, including public interest litigation, women, and the right to information.