ABSTRACT
The contrast between India and Pakistan is striking because at independence they inherited a shared legacy conditioned by over twelve centuries of Hindu-Muslim association and two of colonial rule. While India and Pakistan are at differing stages of economic growth, due partly to the uneven nature of capitalist development under colonial rule, they are among the top ten industrialized countries in the “Third World” even though they are primarily agrarian societies. In India, politics has been dominated by a “middle” class, conducted through parties, and tended to remain within the framework of procedures associated with electoral democracy. Modernization theorists ascribe Indian democracy to a developed political culture, viable institutions, unique organizational skills on the part of the Indians, a tradition of compromise and accommodation, the success of the Congress in having institutionalized itself in state and society, and the British role in having bequeathed “tutelary democracy” to India.
