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Britain's justification for colonial rule in India stressed the impossibility of Indian self-government. And the empire did its best to ensure this was the case, impoverishing Indian subjects and doing little to improve their socioeconomic reality. So when independence came, the cultivation of democratic citizenship was a foremost challenge. Madhav Khosla explores the means India's founders used to foster a democratic ethos. They knew the people would need to learn ways of citizenship, but the path to education did not lie in rule by a superior class of men, as the British insisted. Rather, it rested on the creation of a self-sustaining politics. The makers of the Indian Constitution instituted universal suffrage amid poverty, illiteracy, social heterogeneity, and centuries of tradition. They crafted a constitutional system that could respond to the problem of democratization under the most inhospitable conditions. On January 26, 1950, the Indian Constitution – the longest in the world – came into effect. More than half of the world's constitutions have been written in the past three decades. Unlike the constitutional revolutions of the late eighteenth century, these contemporary revolutions have occurred in countries characterized by low levels of economic growth and education, where voting populations are deeply divided by race, religion, and ethnicity. And these countries have democratized at once, not gradually. The events and ideas of India's Founding Moment offer a natural reference point for these nations where democracy and constitutionalism have arrived simultaneously, and they remind us of the promise and challenge of self-rule today. ; https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/1323/thumbnail.jpg

The Oxford India Short Introductions are concise, stimulating, and accessible guides to different aspects of India. Combining authoritative analysis, new ideas, and diverse perspectives, they discuss subjects which are topical yet enduring, as also emerging areas of study and debate. Giving identity to over a billion people, the Indian Constitution is one of the world's great political texts. Drafted over six decades ago, its endurance and operation have fascinated and surprised many. In this short introduction, Madhav Khosla brings to light its many features, aspirations, and controversies. How does the Constitution separate power between different political actors? What form of citizenship does it embrace? And how can it change? In answering questions such as these, Khosla unravels the document's remarkable and challenging journey, inviting readers to reflect upon the theory and practice of constitutionalism in the world's largest democracy. ; https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/1327/thumbnail.jpg

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Table of Cases -- Table of Legislation -- Table of Secondary Legislation -- Table of Statutes -- Table of Other Materials -- Table of EU Material -- Table of International Material -- Table of National Material -- PART I: INTRODUCTION -- 1. The Reality of Indian Regulation -- Introduction -- I. Doctrinal Incoherence and Uncertainty -- II. Regulatory Incapacity and Structural Weaknesses -- III. Regulatory Independence and Design -- IV. New Technologies and Dated Regulatory Frameworks -- V. International Regulation as a Domestic Policy Anchor -- Conclusion -- PART II: FOUNDATIONS -- 2. Indian Administrative Law and the Challenges of the Regulatory State -- Introduction -- I. The Constitution and Administrative Law -- II. The Supreme Court and Administrative Law -- III. The State and Administrative Law -- IV. The Citizen and Administrative Law -- Conclusion -- 3. Reclaiming Indian Administrative Law -- Introduction -- I. Common Law Review of Administrative Action -- II. The Arbitrariness Doctrine -- III. Social Rights -- IV. Implications of the Eclipse of Administrative Law -- V. Reinvigorating Administrative Law -- Conclusion -- 4. Constitutional Regulationof the Fourth Branch -- Introduction -- I. Constitutional Foundations -- II. Agencies and the Constitution -- III. Enforcing Accountability in Practice -- Conclusion -- PART III: REGULATORY DOMAINS -- 5. Securities Markets -- Introduction -- I. Evolution and Expansion of Sebi's Role in India's capital Markets -- II. Regulatory Turf Wars -- III. Balancing Independence and Accountability -- IV. Enforcement Concerns and Regulatory uncertainty -- V. Weak State Capacity -- Conclusion -- 6. Banking -- Introduction -- I. Banking Regulation: The Present Framework -- II. Structural Issues -- Conclusion -- 7. Infrastructure -- Introduction

As India celebrates 75 years of independence, fresh questions are being raised about who is an Indian. This essay introduces a special section of Studies in Indian Politics which puts forward answers to this question considering recent tectonic changes in India's political climate and party system. We outline how religion is being increasingly adopted as a filter through which citizenship is decided—both in formal, legal terms as well as in informal terms. The special section delves deeper into this terrain, exploring several critical themes: de jure changes to India's citizenship regime, the relationship between Hindu nationalism and liberal democracy, the judiciary's role in adjudicating religious disputes, the Muslim community's response to recent policy shifts and the changing nature of electoral coalition building. Taken together, the articles in this section represent a signal contribution to ongoing debates in India—and elsewhere—on democracy, nationalism and inclusion.

For more than seven decades, India's Constitution has provided a framework for liberal democracy to flourish in one of the world's most diverse societies. Legal changes and shifts in bureaucratic practices, however, have undermined central tenets of the prevailing order. In today's India, the assent of the people is both necessary and sufficient to justify all forms of state action. This article outlines three manifestations of India's new constitutionalism — the "ethnic state," the "absolute state," and the "opaque state." These distinct, yet overlapping faces of the Indian state have undermined the rule of law, equal citizenship, checks and balances, and democratic accountability.