Though characterized by great human diversity and subject to economic constraints–typically disintegrative forces–Indian society has managed to function in a democratic manner through institutionalization of conflict among the myriad of competing ethnic, religious, and political factions. The author of this book maintains that the relative unity of Indian society can be explained by its unique pattern of integration, which allows conflicting forces to cooperate through mediatory institutions. Such institutions, he argues, link differing codes of behavior and equalize opposing groups,...