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Synopsis The series entitled Readings in Indian Government and Politics focuses on significant themes in contemporary Indian Government and politics. This, the third volume in the series, deals specifically with the state. It brings together seminal articles by a range of experts from the fields of political science, sociology and economics, which provide important insights into the processes of state formation, as also its consolidation and erosion. Zoya Hasan’s introduction explores the social and political dynamics of the state and the major developments influencing the formation and transformation of the state in independent India. The essays that follow explore a wide range of major issues including. The historical trajectory of the modern state and its role as the central actor in economic development; The relationship between class and state power, the constrains on state intervention, and the challenges to the state from liberalization and globalization; The political culture of the state, the ideological and institutional crisis of the state, the tension between the centralizing and decentralizing tendencies of Government, the restructuring of dominance and state power, and changes in the elite and policy discourses in the realm of affirmative action and secularism; and Ethnographies of the state, particularly the ineffectiveness of Government control, the privatization of public functions, and the corruption in the everyday practices of local level bureaucracies. With its broad and insightful coverage of many topical issues, this collection will be essential reading for those in the fields of political science, sociology, democratic governance, and economics. It will serve as a text for M.A. students of Indian Government and politics while bureaucrats, politicians, planners and policy-makers will also find it of use.