What happens to the rural folk-to their power and economic well-being-when development takes place in a democratic framework? Focusing on India where, unlike most of the developing world, a democratic system has flourished for four decades, this book investigates how the rural sector uses its numbers in a democracy to further its economic and political interests. The book also argues that identities constitute a powerful constraint on the pursuit of economic interests. | Democracy Development and the Countryside by Ashutosh Varshney, Paperback | Indigo Chapters