post-partition generation is acutely conscious of the of the "acts of political carnage, involving religious communities, conflicts in which the State has occasionally become embroiled" (p. 79). The electorate empowered by the universal franchise has reacted rationally to factors such as price rise and has shown remarkable political sophistication in making collective choices. However, violent impulses such as outbreaks of communal carnages cannot be explained by the rational choice theory. Hence, the question: if the political actors are rational, then how does the pursuit of the individual strategies lead to such outcomes that are not collectively rational? The authors explain this dichotomy through the formulation of 'critical traditionalism' in which "political actors draw on all possible resources available to them - institutional participation, protest movements, culture and ritual, and help create a dialectical synthesis of tradition and modernity" (p. 81). In the context of the enormous cultural diversity of the country, besides economic inequality and relative deprivation, a representative sample of 559 respondents is used to ask questions about political awareness, participation and voting behaviour. The findings of the survey indicate that most people make their electoral choices after the campaign starts. Voting fatigue or apathy is absent with rising participation in every election. However, women, poor and STs have little exposure to election meetings as have the older people and Christians. However, Muslims and the Schedule Castes along with the young educated and well-off people form the larger contingent of those attending election meetings. About caste and community considerations dominating the political discourse, the authors point out that (a) "while the rhetoric of caste and community is the consequence of voter's strategic thinking, the process is nevertheless based on individual perception where does his interest lie" with the result that "mapping of caste or religion into political support is thus sophisticated, rather than mechanical or completely manipulated by the elite"; and, (b) such articulation of individual interest in the "rhetoric of caste or community has long-term consequence for the idiom of politics, because the perceived salience of the categories of discourse becomes important fixtures of the political process"(pp. 98-99). The books also points out that hardly any section of the society is "untouched by the processes of democratisation ... The electorate is politically conscious and engages actively in campaigns" (p. 116). As the role of political parties has been criticised by most sections, the book also explores how India's party system has managed to cope