Development initiatives unfold within complex social, cultural and economic contexts. It is important that practitioners in the field are able to interpret and analyse development interventions from many perspectives, and in this course, we take a look at the political perspective. Through a look at a brief history of politics in India, we attempt to analyse politics in contemporary India in order to make proposals for political reforms. 

Is politics necessary? What sort of political authority is necessary for a society? How did the modern Indian state originate and how does interact with the people it is meant to act on behalf of? Through a look at ideas of the political, power, civil society and democracy, we travel through time to look at the trajectory of state and politics in India before and after Independence.