Book Review: The Oxford Companion to Politics in India
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2321023013482792 |
| Author | K. K. Kailash |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Studies in Indian Politics
1(1) 109–126
© 2013 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/2321023013482792
http://inp.sagepub.com
Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta, eds, The Oxford Companion to Politics in India. Student
Edition, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2011. 644 pages. ` 495.
First published in 2010, the Oxford Companion to Politics in India (OCPI) was brought out a year later
in a student edition with a special preface. The Companion, organized in eight parts and spread around
thirty-eight chapters, is a unique collection that not only brings out the richness and diversity of politics
in the country but is also in many ways testimony to the robustness of scholarship on politics in India and
a valuable exercise in taking stock of that study.
The OCPI, unlike other Oxford companions, actually falls somewhere between a handbook and a
companion. Most Oxford companions usually have short dictionary like entries covering an encyclopae-
dic range of topics; handbooks in contrast are characterized by essay length surveys of research on a
particular area. The OCPI attempts to mix both these genres giving us the value of both in one place. The
rich but crisp essays cover a variety of issues around both the form and substance of politics in India. All
essays essentially have three objectives, first, to raise and introduce theoretical and analytical questions;
second, to provide some sense of the literature on that particular theme and third, to also present the
author’s perspective on the theme.
The introduction by editors Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta magnificently sets up the rich
fare that follows. While keeping its observations on each contribution short, the introduction seamlessly
and almost effortlessly weaves the different themes that receive focus in the companion into an essay on
democracy...
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