ABSTRACT
In 1987, India celebrated the completion of four decades of self-government. It was a year in which it was easier to see how important political leaders, forces, and initiatives had run into trouble than to discern how they and India’s democracy might extricate themselves. There was plenty of political and social ferment, some of which led to destructive conflict and violence, but much of which appeared to have creative promise. It was a year of further disillusionment with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and of continuing doubts about the possibility of broad opposition unity. Rural society in India is thus far less dependent upon the state than its African counterparts, so that when political institutions undergo decay in India, far less social havoc is wrought as a result. Great leaders seldom exercise decisive influence over socio-economic forces and huge, complex political institutions.
