Changing Face of Parties and Party Systems (eBook)

Sunil K. Choudhary is a Professor of Political Science and Director, Developing Countries Research Centre at University of Delhi. He has an outstanding academic record and research publications. A post-doctoral fellow from Tel Aviv University, Israel and a Commonwealth Fellow at the University of Oxford, U.K., he has written extensively on contemporary issues which have not only been figured in various refereed national and international journals but have also been published as peer-reviewed books.  He has to his credit today 6 Books, 37 Research Papers and 83 Research Publications and Presentations. As an expert/examiner/editor, he has been associated with various premier institutions. He is the recipient of various national and international awards. He was honoured with the prestigious Global South Award, 2014 by the International Political Science Association [IPSA] in Montreal, Canada. This award is given to only one Social Science Scholar from amongst 155 nations for making distinct research contributions in the countries of the Global South.

Preface 5
About the Book 11
Contents 12
About the Author 15
List of Abbreviations 17
List of Figures 21
List of Tables 23
Introduction 24
Part I: Parties and Party Systems: A Conceptual Framework 30
1: Theorizing Parties and Party Systems 32
Interpreting the Parties 33
Parties and Party Systems: Historical Perspective 35
Evolution and Growth of Parties 36
First Phase: Pre-behavioral Era [1906-1949] 36
Second Phase: Behavioral Era [1950-65] 37
Third Phase: Post-behavioral Era [1966- to Date] 40
Concluding Remarks 48
References 50
2: Locating Israeli and Indian Parties and Party Systems 52
Final Comments 59
References 61
Part II: Parties and the State Formation 62
3: Yishuv: The Pre-state Period in Israel 63
Aliyah 64
Pre-Zionist Aliyah 64
Zionist Aliyah: The Yishuv 65
Left/Labor/Socialist Zionism 66
Right Zionism 69
Religious Zionism 70
Parties and the Constitution Making 71
Post-Zionist Aliyah 72
References 73
4: Indian National Congress: From a `Safety Valve´ to the Political Pioneer of Freedom Struggle 75
The Moderates 76
The Extremists 77
Gandhian Era and Movement Toward Independence 78
Parties and the Constitution Making 81
References 83
Part III: Parties in the Post-independence Polities: From Predominance to Pluralism 84
5: Mapaivot vs Congress System 85
Mapaivot (1949-1967) 86
`Congress System´ (1952-67) 98
Breaking Down of the Mapaivot and Congress System 105
Alignment-Based Coalitional Polity (1968-1977) in Israel vs Market Polity (1967-77) of India 106
The Indian Market Polity 107
Final Comments 108
References 109
6: Mahapach vs Janata Parivar 111
Institutionalized Bi-Block Polarity: `Mahapach´ (1977-1992) 111
The Two-Party System and the Janata Experiment (1977-80) 116
Final Comments 119
References 120
7: Toward a Coalitional Multipolarity 122
Coalitional Multipolarity in Israel 123
Coalition Era and Indian Party System 127
Final Comments 140
References 141
Part IV: Ideological Roots, Social Bases and Electoral Patterns of the Parties: Exploring Israel and India 143
8: The Left-Wing Parties (Socialist Block) 145
The Israeli Left: The Israeli Labor Party 145
The Indian Left: Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxists) 153
Other Parties on the Israeli and Indian Left 158
Final Comments 160
References 160
9: The Right-Wing Parties (Nationalist Block) 162
Likud in Israel 162
The Indian Right: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 176
Other Right Block Israeli Parties 187
Shiv Sena: The Indian Far Right 193
Final Comments 195
References 195
10: The Centrist Parties (Centrist Block) 197
Shinui, Kadima, Yesh Atid and Kulanu in Israel 197
Indian National Congress 204
Other Israeli Parties of the Centrist Block 209
Yesh Atid 215
Ha´Tnuah and Kulanu 215
Indian Socialist Parties as Centrist Political Forces 216
Praja Socialist Party 217
Socialist Party 218
Swatantra Party 218
Samyukta Socialist Party 219
Final Comments 220
References 220
11: The Ethno-Religious Parties (Ethno-Religious Block) 223
National Religious Party (NRP): Mafdal 223
Shas 232
The Sister Parties: The Agudas on the Ethno-Religious Block 239
Caste- and Community-Based Parties in India 244
Bahujan Samaj Party 244
Samajwadi Party 248
Rashtriya Janata Dal 250
Shiromani Akali Dal 250
Summing Up 253
References 254
12: The Arab Parties (Arab Block) 257
Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, DFPE) 257
Other Parties of the Arab Block 265
Final Comments 271
References 271
Part V: Parties and the Government Making 273
13: Coalition Politics in Israel and India 274
Constitutional Provisions of Coalitional Government in Israel and India 276
Comparing Coalition Experiments of Israel and India 282
Post-state Coalitional Experiences in Israel and India 283
Premiership of Ben-Gurion (1949-63) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1952-64) 284
Premiership of Levi Eshkol (1963-69) and Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-66) 288
The Women Premiers: Golda Meir (1969-74) vs Indira Gandhi (1967-77) 290
The First Alternative Premiership: Menachem Begin (1977-83) vs Morarji Government [1977-80] 295
Expanding Political Horizons: The National Governments in Israel and India (1984-90) 299
Beginning of the LPG Era and Strengthening of Coalitions 303
Yitzhak Shamir (1990-92) vs Narasimha Rao (1991-96) 304
Directly Elected Israeli Premiers: Rabin, Netanyahu, Barak and Sharon (1992-2003) vs the United Front Coalitions (1996-1998) 306
The Twenty-First-Century Premiers 313
The Rightist Premiers: Ariel Sharon (2003-2006) vs Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2004) 313
The Centrist Premiers: Ehud Olmert (2006-09) vs Congress-led UPA I and II (2004-14) 319
The Rightist Coalitions: Binyamin Netanyahu (2009-To Date) vs Narendra Modi (2014-To Date) 322
Final Comments 325
References 328
14: Competing Issues of Governance: Israel and India Compared 332
Peace and Security 333
Religiosity and Ethnicity 340
Settlements and Infiltration 344
Economy and Market 348
Scams and Scandals 353
Summing Up 357
References 361
The Way Forward 363
Bibliography 369
Primary Sources 369
Secondary Sources 370
Books 370
Articles 383
Unpublished Presentations 387
Index 388