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Synopsis This volume brings together the author’s recent essays on institutions, civil society, and democracy written from a comparative perspective but with India at the centre of attention. The essays are devoted to changing norms and values and emphasize their inherent tensions, oppositions, and contradictions. In exploring the stresses and strains of Indian democracy, Beteille exposes the disjunction between political ideals and social constraints. He connects seemingly disparate elements of public life, examining the agenda India set itself at independence and the obstacles that hinder its achievement. Beteille discusses, Marxism, nationalism, and secularism, along with the university, the civil service and other major institutions. The book is for those interested in contemporary society and public affairs, students and teachers of sociology, social anthropology, political science, and social philosophy.