Note from the Editors
| Author | K.C. Suri,Suhas Palshikar |
| Published date | 01 December 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2321023013509154 |
| Date | 01 December 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Military-Madrasa-Mullah Complex vii
India Quarterly, 66, 2 (2010): 133–149
A Global Threat vii
Note from the Editors
Suhas Palshikar
K.C. Suri
In June 2013, we placed before the readers our first issue of SIP. That issue has received a warm
welcome from colleagues based in various institutions in India and abroad. We are planning to increase
the periodicity of the journal and bring out three issues in 2015. We look forward to receiving a steady
stream of submissions to support this decision.
On 18 July 2013, the first issue was formally launched at a function at the India International Centre,
Delhi at the hands of Professor Mrinal Miri, renowned philosopher, MP (Rajya Sabha) and Chairperson
of the Board of Governors, CSDS. The first copy of the journal was given to Professor Rajni Kothari in
appreciation of his contribution to the study of Indian politics. A panel discussion was held on this occa-
sion on the topic ‘Doing Political Science in India’. Nivedita Menon, Sudipta Kaviraj and Yogendra
Yadav participated in the discussion. Professor Rajeev Bhargava chaired the panel discussion.
SIP believes that doing political science in India and studying ‘Indian politics’ are closely interlinked.
Also, SIP seeks to connect itself to the various processes that aim at rejuvenating the discipline of politi-
cal science in Indian academia. Just as the sections on ‘Teaching-Learning Political Science’ and ‘Notes
on Methods’ are instances of that effort, the panel discussion on the occasion of the launch too was an
effort to start off a discussion on this issue. Nivedita Menon argued for a more critical and interdiscipli-
nary approach to studying politics and underscored that analysis of power and power relations was and
should be the central concern of the study of politics. Sudipta Kaviraj pointed out that history of ideas
and their evolution from pre-colonial period must be an essential component of political science as it
could strengthen our understanding of the contemporary. Yogendra Yadav emphasized that a more
nuanced understanding of political science would be possible through a critical study of Indian politics.
Rajeev Bhargava exhorted the journal to balance the tasks of responding to the immediate and making
sense of the long-term trends. These views were in consonance with the idea of ‘Indian politics’ pro-
pounded by us in the Introduction to the first issue of SIP.
As more and more college-going undergraduate students turn to the study of political science and as
the discipline attracts more and more researchers, there is an urgent need to revisit our understanding of
the discipline, reframe the course structure for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and redefine
research agenda of political science in India. Through its pages, SIP hopes to contribute to this challeng-
ing process and invites colleagues to support this endeavour by way of their research writings and
response to the papers published in SIP.
This second issue, like the first one, through the articles being published here, addresses ideas (on the
links between history and politics), institutions (delimitation of electoral constituencies, ‘decline’ of
parliament and party system) and processes (Karnataka’s assembly elections and Goa’s politics). These
articles, along with Notes on ‘de-structuring political science’ and on doing comparative state politics,
continue our engagement with ‘doing political science in India’.
Studies in Indian Politics
1(2) vii
© 2013 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/2321023013509154
http://inp.sagepub.com
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