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India Briefing, 1988

Edited by Marshall M. Bouton and Philip K. Oldenburg
Reviewed by By Donald S. Zagoria
Spring 1989
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Edited by Marshall M. Bouton and Philip K. Oldenburg
Westview Press/New York: The Asia Society
1988
198 pp.
$33.95

The Asia Society has again provided in its annual review of contemporary India a solid collection of essays covering the essentials-domestic politics, the economy and foreign policy-while adding sections on technology and education. There is an exceptionally informative analysis of the Indian political system by the British political scientist James Manor. He sees the Congress Party as riddled with corruption and factionalism and he argues that the current leader Rajiv Gandhi is impulsive and lacks clear goals, moving too far in one direction and then overcorrecting by rushing headlong in another. Meanwhile the opposition is fragmented and only regionally based. Manor concludes on an optimistic note by stressing the system's capacity of regeneration at the state level.

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