This book studies Indira Gandhi’s final term in office as India’s Prime Minister (1980–84). This is an important period in the country’s recent history as it is then that some of the defining features of today’s India’s political system emerged. The book argues that the early 1980s were a period of uncompromising change, particularly in three key areas. First, India undertook the road that would eventually lead to the liberalization of the economy; second, new forms of political mobilization emerged, including mobilization based on communal identities; third, the polity became increasingly reg ... More

This book studies Indira Gandhi’s final term in office as India’s Prime Minister (1980–84). This is an important period in the country’s recent history as it is then that some of the defining features of today’s India’s political system emerged. The book argues that the early 1980s were a period of uncompromising change, particularly in three key areas. First, India undertook the road that would eventually lead to the liberalization of the economy; second, new forms of political mobilization emerged, including mobilization based on communal identities; third, the polity became increasingly regionalized, and the states became crucial actors in India’s political system. The book shows the crucial contribution that — sometimes intentionally, sometimes not — Mrs Gandhi gave to these processes. The book covers a second and overlapping theme, namely Mrs Gandhi’s drive for personal domination of India’s political system and the consequences that this had on her democratic framework. The book argues that Indian institutions were severely, perhaps irremediably damaged by Mrs Gandhi’s rule. The institutionalization of corruption as a systemic feature of India’s political system and the personalization of institutions are the two most detrimental legacies of Indira Gandhi’s prime ministership. The book traces the origins of these processes and their consequences on the political system. Finally, the book describes the significant changes occurred within India’s society during Mrs Gandhi’s rule, in particular the process of emancipation of the Indian masses that Indira Gandhi contributed in no small measure to accelerate.