Richard Sisson – författare

A decade after the 1971 wars in South Asia, the principal decisionmakers were still uncertain why wars so clearly unwanted had occurred. The authors reconstruct the complex decisionmaking process attending the break-up of Pakistan and the subsequent war between India and Pakistan. Much of their data derive from interviews conducted with principal players in each of the countries immediately involved - Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh - including Indira Gandhi and leaders of the Awami League in Bangladesh.

Seventeen distinguished historians and political scientists discuss the phenomenon of Indian Nationalism, one hundred years after the founding of the Congress party. They offer important new interpretations of Nationalism's evolution during more than six decades of crucial change and rapid growth. As India's foremost political institution, the National Congress with its changing fortunes mirrored Indian aspirations, ideals, dreams, and failures during the country's struggle for nationhood. Many difficulties face by the pre-independence Indian National Congress are critically examined for the first time in this volume. Major times of crisis and transition are considered, as well as the tension between mass action and political control and the problem of creating and maintaining unity in the face of divisive social and economic interests and between deeply hostile religious communities. A composite portrait of the Congress Party emerges. We see a coalition of often conflicting communities and interests much like India itself, struggling to stay together, tenuously united by little more at times than a common "enemy," the imperial British Raj. But linked together in precarious, seemingly haphazard fashion, shifting networks of elite political entrepreneurs manage to keep India's National Congress alive long enough to convince the British that it would be easier to "Quit India" than to try to hang on to it by force. With the abrupt transfer of power form the British to the independent Dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947, Congress provided institutional sinews for the administration of what had been British India and over five hundred Princely States. By contributing to a deeper understanding of India's nationalist experience, this volume may illuminate the experience of other Third World states. Essays by:S. BhattacharyaJudith M. BrownMushirul HansanZoya HasanD.A. LowClaude MarkovitsJohn R. McLaneW.H. Morris-JonesGyanendra PandeyBimal PrasadRajat Kanta RayBarbara N. RamusackPeter D. ReevesHitesranjan SanyalRichard SissonStanley WolpertEleanor Zelliot This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

The Congress Party in Rajasthan: Political Integration and Institution-Building in an Indian State offers an in-depth exploration of the Congress party’s evolution and dominance in Rajasthan's political landscape. The book examines how this party navigated the challenges of integrating diverse princely states and traditional power structures into a cohesive democratic political framework following India's independence. It delves into the processes of political mobilization, elite recruitment, and the creation of new institutional linkages, emphasizing the Congress's pivotal role in forging a unified political identity in a region previously fragmented by semi-sovereign princely rule.The study is structured around three key dimensions: the historical antecedents of Congress's emergence, its adaptability to changing political and social environments, and the internal dynamics of factionalism and conflict management. Drawing on a rich historical perspective, the book investigates the party's ability to incorporate diverse social groups, manage intraparty conflicts, and maintain a balance between traditional authority and modern democratic norms. It highlights how the Congress party became not only a vehicle for state-level integration but also a crucial mechanism for cultivating political participation, promoting systemic stability, and nurturing a democratic political culture in a region marked by deep-rooted traditionalism.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.

The Congress Party in Rajasthan: Political Integration and Institution-Building in an Indian State offers an in-depth exploration of the Congress party’s evolution and dominance in Rajasthan's political landscape. The book examines how this party navigated the challenges of integrating diverse princely states and traditional power structures into a cohesive democratic political framework following India's independence. It delves into the processes of political mobilization, elite recruitment, and the creation of new institutional linkages, emphasizing the Congress's pivotal role in forging a unified political identity in a region previously fragmented by semi-sovereign princely rule.The study is structured around three key dimensions: the historical antecedents of Congress's emergence, its adaptability to changing political and social environments, and the internal dynamics of factionalism and conflict management. Drawing on a rich historical perspective, the book investigates the party's ability to incorporate diverse social groups, manage intraparty conflicts, and maintain a balance between traditional authority and modern democratic norms. It highlights how the Congress party became not only a vehicle for state-level integration but also a crucial mechanism for cultivating political participation, promoting systemic stability, and nurturing a democratic political culture in a region marked by deep-rooted traditionalism.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.