Chapter5

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY

OF INDIAN POLITICS
India is a
particularly
laboratory of political, economic significant
and social
The terms approach and method are fre
quently treated as synonymous and so are the
development and change. It is a static society terms method and technique. But a clear idea
in progress, with a
political system grounded about the meaning of these terms is neces-
in conservative traditions but
a process of
nevertheless in sary for a correct understanding. An ap-
change. In the strictest sense of
the term India has perhaps not proach is a way of looking at and then
yet evolved a explaining a particular thing. A method is an
real political system at all; but it has a
well-
established framework of government and epistemological assumption on which search
law which is a working for knowledge is based, whereas techniques
reality, although to be
sure it sometimes
operates in peculiar ways denote the operations and activities involved
and is often strangely affected by in the collection and interpretation of data.
cal forces and
non-politi- Some would prefer to call the set of such
development.
For scholars of politics, India is operations and activities a tool.
perhaps
the most important of all the newer countries Approaches to the study of politics are so
of the so-called third world'. In view of its many. As the criteria for selecting the
long and complex past, its vast population problems and data or questions seeking
and its present position, the special impor- to
answers questions are determined by
some
tance of India can be generally the
recognised standpoint that a scholar
adopts or makes
without doing an injustice to any other use of, so there may be several
country.
approaches."
When a particular approach is
adopted in
selecting the problems and data, it has a
APPROACH: MEANING AND NATURE tendency to establish the all inclusiveness of
that approach and to claim its
An approach, in simple terms may be adoption by
other scholars. This tendency also ultimately
defined as a way of looking at and then ex-
leads to an insistence on the adoption of the
plaining a particular phenomenon. An ap-
same methods and
proach, in fact, consists of eriteria employed techniques accompanied
in selecting the problems or questions and the by the possibility of reaching the same con-
data for investigation." In other words, an clusions. The all inclusiveness of an approach
approach is a set of standards governing the looks at all facts from its own angle and
inclusion or exclusion of questions and data explains the phenomenon also from the same
for academic purposes. The perspective may angle. When a scholar seeks to channelise his
be broad enough to cover a vast area like efforts into a presentable form, the same ap-
world as a whole in the study of politics or it proach leads to the utilisation of a particular
may be very limited embracing just an aspect method. Approaches and methods, in this
of local, regional or national politics." way, become closely inter-related themes.
 76 INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

The character of an approach deter How to select the rulers? By what princin
mines the character of generalisation, ex* will they govern? etc. In recent ttimes ideolo
planation, prediction and prescription-all of has come to explain the role of the polit
which are among the main functions of a parties in relation to economic developmment
theory. Therefore, an approach is closely re of a nation. Therefore, ideology
y in a
forms the fabric give
lated to a theory. An approach is transformed political system of
social
into a theory if and when its function extends structure.
beyond the selection of problems and data The intellectual journey from Raja Ran
about the subject under study Mohan Roy to Mahatma Gandhi in Indi.
Politics is a testimony of their philosophiest
INDIAN POLITICS DIVERGENT mind. The leaders of the Indian renaissa
APPROACHES emphasised the importance of ethical value
in politics. They never accepted the aim n
What really makes the study of Indian
modernisation in India was to imitate th
Politics significant as well as interesting.
west. They regarded science as a triumph of
even perplexing, to a scholar of this subject
the use of different approaches to understand
is the human intellect and an indispensable
power to create better material conditions of
and explain political reality.
life. But they protested that the growth of
Approaches to the study of Indian
science at the expense of the inner growth of
Politics may be broadly classified into two
man had led to a situation of servitude
categories- traditional and modern or nor and
alienation in which means were increasingly
mative and empirical. While the former is
becoming ends. They argued that scientific
said to be value-laden', the latter is known
progress without spirntual progress was mere
for being 'value-free'. The traditional ap
binding of the human spirit. Sri Aurobindo
proaches have a historical, descriptive and
and many others even spoke of the spiritual
prescriptive character while modern ap-
mission of India against the hedonistic, word
proaches are marked by empirical investiga-
ly aims of the modern west.
tion of the relevant data. The major varieties
oftraditional approaches are: Philosophical Vivekanand was the advocate of the
Approach, Historical Approach, Institutional religious theory of nationalism, because
Approach, Comparative Approach and Legal religion, he stated, had to be made the back
Approach, while the important modern ap- bone of the national life. Aurobindo and
proaches are Sociological Approach, Gandhi also argued in the same way. Gandhi
Psychological Approach, Systems Approach, like Gokhale wanted a spiritualization of
Behavioural Approach and Marxist Ap- politics. Gandhi stressed that non-violence
proach. Let us discuss the divergent ap- alone could lead to true democracy. In
proaches: Gandhian Philosophy means and ends are
convertible terms. The two are inseparable
1. Philosophical Approach and should be equally pure. That the end in
The oldest approach to the study of In- high and laudable is not enough for him, the
dian Politics is Philosophical. It is also known means too must be moral. To quote Gandhiji,
by the name of Ethical Approach. It takes an "As the means so the end." "The means may
overall view of human development but be likened to a seed, the end to a tree, and
draws metaphysical conclusions. It is con-
cerned with normative considerations and
there is just the same inviolable connection
between the means and the end as there 1s
value judgments. Another aspect of between the seed and the tree."" The Gita
philosophy which recently acquired impor- Doctrine of nishkama karma (action without
tance is the aspect of ideology. Ideologies deal attachment) also teaches us that a good deed
with questions like who will be the rulers? produces only a good result. So Gandhi
 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN POLITICS
77
in-
institutions. The origin of every political
believes that "if one takes care
of the means, in the pages of history.
of itself."8 stitution can be traced
the end will take care necessary to
seek the
Therefore, it becomes the
Thus, Vivekanand, Aurobindo, Gokhale, wish to learn about
Gandhi and even Nehru.had a spiritual ap- help of history, if we political institu-
origin and development of
proach to politics. Their approach to politics. tions in India.
and political problems was rooted in moral
unfamiliar country is
values. The following writings In An approach to
ethical on
imaginative
a philosophical bent of often successfully made through
dian Politics have
literature and biographical writings. English
approach penetrating in-
writers who have provided
1. Sri Aurobindo: The Spirit and Form of Indian situa-
ofIndian Polity sights into important aspects
include E. M. Forster
tions and temperament
2. M. K. Gandhi The Story of My Ex to India, 1924),
L.H. Mayers and
(Passage
periments with Truth Paul Scott.
3. Shriman Narayan : Gandhian Con India's cultural traditions
and her pre-
stitution for India
British past are almost inseparable.
They can
as A. L. Basham,
4. K. P. Karunakaran: Modern Indian be studied in histories such
Political Tradition The Wonder That Was India
(1954); Romila
Vol. I (1966); Sir
5. Ram Manohar Lohia: Marx, Gandhi Thapar, The History ofIndia, the Ages
and Socialism Jadunath Sarkar, India Through
Ancient India and
6. N. K. Bose: Studies in Gandhism (ed). (1951; R.C. Mazumdar, India
Jawahar Lal Nehru, Discovery of
(1946). That part of the pre-British
ex-
The Philosophical Approach is criticised institutions
for being speculative and abstract. It is ac- perience which c o n c e r n s political
be ap-
cused of being hypothetical and makes and ideas about government may
Brown, The
politics a handmaid of ethics. However,
Mackenzie
proached through D.
values are indispensable part of political White Umbrella (1953), which gives excerpts
philosophy and they cannot be excluded from from Indian writings and brief commen-
medieval
the study of politics. taries, Kautilya's Arthashastra, the
classic, U. N. Ghoshal's General Survey, His
2. Historical Approach J. W.
best kind of
tory of Hindu Political Ideas and
Spellman, Political Theory of Ancient India
as a
History serves
the store-
laboratory for Political Science. It is (1964).
human life.
house of incidents pertaining to
of the The structure of British Governmment in
It keeps in secret the record progress
cul- India and its constitutional development are
and downfall of human civilisation and described in A. B. Keith, Constitutional His-
ture. It provides political theories,
in a great
rawish materials and
tory of India (1963) and R. Coupland, Report
measure, the fulgent
adorable data for comparison and induction, on the Constitutional Problem in India
in- (1942). Closer views of administration are
regarding the development of political
stitutions and the extent to which they fulfil given by L. S. S. O' Malley, Indian Civil
the purpose of their existence. It is through Service (1931) and E. A. H. Blunt, The ICS

history that politics can be used to exhilarate (1937), while H. Tinker, The Foundations of
Local Self-Government in India, Pakistan
life, to understand assiduously the political
and Burma (1954) is the standard work on its
phenomenon, to demonstrate the creative
manifestations and unbosom the movements aspect of the subject. The politics of the period
of political life. To neglect the study of history leading upto independence is landmarked by
is to neglect the real source of knowledge two documents related to the reforms of 1919
relevant to the study of political ideas and and 1935; (The Montague-Chelmsford)
78 INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms and 3. Institutional Approach

The (Simon) Report of The Indian Statutory The distinguishing feature of this
Commission. The aspect of the story concern- proach is that here a student of politics ap
ing the Princely States is dealt within V.P. strees on the study of the formal structurlays
Menon, The Integration of Indian States and of a political organisation like legislaturares
U. Phadnis, Towards the Integration of In ture,
executive and judiciary. The Institutional
dian States (1968). Structural Approach may be visualised in thor
Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap's study of our works of N.D. Palmer (Indian Political s
parliamentary system in his book The His tem), Ashok Chanda (Indian Administration
tory of the Parliament of India' traces the W. H. Morris Jones (Parliament in India). A
growth of representative institutions on our B. Lal (The Indian Parliament), J. R.
Siwackh
soil from very early times to the modern age The Indian President), B. B. Jena (Parliame
Part I is a voyage for the discovery of Parlia- tary Committees in India), etc. The constih
ment and its sources. It covers the period tional framework of Indian
Politics and the
from the earliest beginnings of democratic working of parliament and the executive has
deliberative bodies in the Vedic age and the had more adequate treatment than most aspect
Buddhist texts down to the colonial era of the of the subject.
British rule when modern parliamentary in-
The Institutional Approach is
stitutions had an organic growth on the In- also
known by the name of Structural Approach.
dian soil through an interaction between
This approach has been criticised for being
national demands and constitutional reforms
too narrow. It ignores the role of individual
grudgingly and haltingly granted but finally
who constitute and operates the
culminating in India's independence on formal, as
well as informal, structures and sub-struc.
August 15, 1947. Besides Legislative ture of the Indian political system.
Centralism (1833-61), Decentralised Legisla-
tion (1861-1909) and the institutions created 4. Comparative Approach
under Minto-Morley Reforms (1909-20) the
working of the Central Legislature-the As- Gilchrist believes that this approach is
sembly and the Council--during 1920-47 has rather a supplement to the Historical Ap
been analysed and discussed in depth. proach. This approach aims at the study of
existing politics or those which have existed
The essays contained in "Looking Back: in the past to assemble a definite
India in the Twentieth Century" (Editors, N. body of
material from which the investigator, by
N. Vohra-Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 2002,
selection, comparison and elimination, may
National Book Trust, India) look back at
discover the ideal types of progressive forces
India in the last century. The authors of political history. The very essence of this
evaluate the historical experience and reflect approach lies in comparing different histori.
on the prospects the 21st century holds for us. cal facts and political events with a view to
Like other approaches, Historical Ap finding out the causes responsible for them.
proach has its limitations. Lord Bryce has For example, the approach of the Constituent
warned us against superficial resemblances. Assembly of India was somewhat compara
He points out that 'historical parallels' are tive. The Advisor ofthe Constituent Assembly
generally interesting and sometimes il- visited a number of progressive nations,
luminating but are always 'misleading. The studied their constitutions and after having
historical investigator, according to Sidgwick, compared these constitutions, he gave his
is exposed to emotional influences. It only tells report. The Constituent Assembly took a very
us what the political institutions have been, it great advantage of it and included, in Indian
does not give valuable suggestions to meet the Constitution, many features, borrowed from
demands of the present and the future. foreign constitutions.
 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN POLITICS 79

5. Legal Approach sary for the understanding and explanation

Here the study of politics is mixed up of political behaviour of individuals. It is the
with legal processes and institutions. The social whole in which we find the individuals
reason being that there is interdependence having a status and playing a role. Besides
between the law and the governmental in- as society is a network of numerous associa-
stitutions. More so in the case of parliamen- tions and groups which play their own part
tary systems like India-where there is a in the operation of the politics of a country,
written constitution according to which the this approach automatically suggests an in-
governmental institutions run. Further, the vestigation of the study of interest groups
basic function of parliament is to enact and that constitute infra-structure of a political
amend the laws. The institutions that work system.
adjoining to Parliament are meant to inter The social setting of Indian Politics has
pret and execute the laws brought out by the become the subject of keen study in recent
Parliament. For example, courts and executive
years. Here it is enough to indicate some of
bodies like Cabinet are meant for this. Thus, the key works and specially those which have
one finds a close relationship between the law a fairly explicit bearing on political lifeof
and the institution. earlier studies, two which retain a value are
In this context, we may refer to the B. H. Baden-Powell, The Indian Village Com-
works of D.D. Basu, M.V. Pylee, M.C. Setal munity (1896) and L. S. S. O'Malley, India's
wad, A. Gledhill and B. Rau. D.D. Basu, Com Social Heritage (1934). At the centre of recent
mentary on the Constitution of India is the social research are studies of villages and the
standard full length lawyer's commentary, significance of caste in rural communities.
but M. V. Pylee, Constitutional Government Some of the more path-breaking contribu-
in India is comprehensive and less technical, tions have been M. N. Srinivas (Ed). Caste in
while C. H. Alexandrowicz, Constitutional India and Other Essays (1962); Social
Developments in India is the most valuable Change in Modern India (1966); F. G. Bailey,
analysis of the main provisions. The best Caste and The Economic Frontier (1957); S.
introduction to law in India is G. C. Rankin, C. Dube, Indian Vilage (1955); T. Zinkin,
Background to Indian Law, and the best brief Caste Today (1962). There have also been
accounts of the system of law are MC. Setal- valuable studies of particular social groups
wad, The Common Law in India and A. Gled- and religious communities: R. L. Hardgrave,
hill, The Republic of India. The Nadars of Tamilnad (1969); Kushwant
Singh, The Sikha (1953); D. R. Gadgil,
The Legal Approach has several inade Origins of The Modern Indian Business-class
quacies. Many socio-political questions can

not be explained in terms of the legal (1959). The other significant works based on
framework. It does not explain the character Sociological Approach are: L. and s. Rudolph,
of social classes-the nature of economically The Modernity of Tradition (1967); R. Bhas-
dominant groups over all other social groups. karan, Socio-logy of Politics (1967); Rajni
It also does not explain the internal con- Kothari, Caste in Indian Politics (1970);
tradictions of socio-political system. Myron Weiner, The Politics of Scarcity (1962);
B. L. Fadia, Pressure Groups in Indian
6. Sociological Approach Politics (1980), Pavan K. Varma, The Great
The Sociological Approach to the study Indian Middle Class (1998) and Being Indian
of politics has become very popular now. (2004). Dipankar Gupta's Interrogating
Eminent writers like Mclver, David Easton, Caste' (2004, Penguin Books) is a remarkable
G.A. Almond, etc. have accepted the view that work that de-exoticizes caste system and
state is more of a social than that of a political provides fresh insight into caste as a social,
institution. That is, social context is neces- political and economic reality.
 80 INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICs

7. Systems Approach India (1965); Rajni Kothari (Eds.), Party Sys

Political scientists like David Easton tems and Election Studies (1967); etc.
and G. A. Almond have made use of systems 9. Development Approach
analysis in Political Science and thus con- The new generation of political scientista
tributed much to the literature on empirical came to realise that the non-western political
politieal theory. A 'System' according to Al- process could be successfully studied throuh
mond is characterised by (1) comprehensive the Political Development Approach'. This
ness, (2) inter-dependence, and (3) existence approach in the study of comparative politica
of boundaries. A system is comprehensive in was so expanded as to include, besides
the sense it includes all the interactions-in-
the
analysis of political institutions and struc.
puts as well as outputs. Interdependence tures, a wide range of ecological forces
means that the various sub-sets of the system India's politics can also be reached by the
are so closely connected with each other that different route of comparative politics and in
a change in one sub-set produces a change in particular the politics of new states and the
all the other sub-sets. Almond defined bound problems of political development. Relevant
ary as "points where other systems end and philosophical considerations are contained in
the political system begins." J. Plamenatz, On Alien Rule and Self
Myron Weiner's framework in his Government (1960); E. Kedourie,
volume State Politics in India' reflects a dis- Nationalism (1960) and J. R. Pennock, Self
tinct bias towards the 'Systems Approach'. Government in Modernising Nations (1964).
His approach treats each state as a con- The most important work is probably G. Al.
stituent unit within a larger system, but mond and J. Coleman (Eds.), The Politics of
nonetheless also as a separate political sys- Developing Areas (1960) carried forward by
tem. Thus, he says that the states can be G. Almond and G. B. Powell, Comparative
studied "as constituent units of a larger sys- Politics: A Developmental Approach (1966).
tem, and the units themselves are large This was followed by the seven volumes in the
enough to be studied as total systems. In fact, Princeton Studies in Political Development
he tries to describe and analyse "the political Series including especially those dealing with
process in a single state" and relates that Bureaucracy (Ed. J. La Palombara), Political
process to (a) the socio-economic environment Parties (Eds. Myron Weiner and J. La Palom
in which politics occurs, and (b) the perfor bara) and Political Culture (Eds. L. W. Pye
mance of the government. and S. Verba).
A key message of Atul Kohli's study
8. Behavioural Approach (Democracy and Discontent, Cambridge
Behavioural Approach has laid em- University Press, 1991) is that over the last
phasis on the collection and examination of two decades India has had too much of the
facts' relating to the actual behaviour of man wrong kind of democracy and not enough of
as a social and political being. It specifies as the right' kind. Because a highly interven
the unit of object of both the theoretical and tionist but ineffectual national government
and weak political parties are major factors
empirical analysis the behaviour of persons
and social groups rather than events, strue- in India's governability crisis, strengthening
tures, institutions or ideologies. There is a party organisations and bringing the national
government's capacities in line with its commit
large and growing literature in India on the
ments are important pre-requisites for beter
electoral part of the framework of polities in
based on empirieal findings. Some important democratic government in India, as they are
studies are: A. H. Somjee, Voting Behaviour other, similar low income democracies.
The second edition of Paul R.
Brasss
and Indian Villages (1959), Myron Weiner
and Rajni Kothari (Eds.), Voting Behaviour in "The Politics of India since Independen0
 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN POLITICS
81
(2001, Cambridge University Press) focused
on deepening crisis of
national unity which CONCLUsIONS
have affected the Indian State in the
past four While divergent approaches to the study
years, the intensified inter-caste
proposed transformations in the conflict, the of Indian Politics may be
broadly grouped
Indian into two categories-traditional1 and
economy and the political electoral
in the party system, changes moderna sort of overlapping cannot be lost
especially those as
sociated with the continuing decline of the sight of. It is a different matter that we treat
the former as loaded with normativism and
Congress and the rise of the BJP the latter with empiricism. These
Works Like "India unbound" approaches
also should not be treated as mutually ex-
Grows at Night"
of Gurcharan Das
and
"India
clusive. Most of them are inter-related. In
offer a
ringside view of the economic and social order to cover the wide scope of Indian
transformation of a nation. "India unbound" Politics, we have to seek the assistance of
is a recommended almost all the approaches. Historical and
reading for inter-
ested in understanding modernanyone India. sociological approaches are not contrary to
each other. On the contrary, they are com-
plementary to each other.
REFERENCES
1. Norman D. Palmer, The Indian Political
2. Vernon Van Dyke, Political
System (London, 1961), Preface.
3. J. C.
Science: Philosophical Analysis (Standford, 1962), p.
A 114.
Johari, Comparative Politics (New Delhi, 1988), p. 21.
4. Ibid., p. 21.
5. Tbid., p. 21.
6. Mahendra Kumar, Theoretical Aspects of International Politics (Agra, 1988), p. 48.
7. Hind Suwaraj, p. 60.
8. Gopinath Dhawan, The Political Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi (Ahmedabad, 1946), p. 54.
9. L. S. Rathore, In Defence of Political Theory (Delhi, 1986), p. 72.
10 Paul R. Brass, The Politics of India since
Independence (Second edition, Cambridge University Press), Preface.