Revision of the author's thesis from 1965. Includes bibliographical references (pages [267]-274) and index.
Contents:
Development of the Central Legislature from 1861 to 1920 -- The Central Legislature and Indian politics 1921 to 1947 -- Nature of the electoral system and elections -- Powers, privileges and procedures in the central legislature -- The composition and political groupings of the two houses -- The legislative influence on the administration -- The process of lawmaking : role of the non-official members in the Central Legislature -- Financial procedure in the Central Legislature -- Political grievances in the Central Legislature -- Relations between the two chambers.
Summary:
"The Central Legislature in British India 1921-47: Parliamentary Experiences under the Raj, is an exceptional expose of Colonial India's highest legislative body. With its wealth of materials and in-depth description of the former Indian Legislature's actual working, its political milieu and its institutional development, this book belongs to the larger genre of the British Indian narratives on the constitutional encounters between the rulers and the ruled. This book touches on a critical range of areas essential to our understanding of the British Raj in India. This book adds a significant depth to a neglected quarter of historical knowledge--the chronicle of parliamentary experiences and the representative institution-building in Colonial India. Undeniably, the Central Legislature was the only acknowledged all-India forum where the Indian legislators and the Imperial Executive, time and again, ran into each other. Yet, even at the lowest ebb of the Indian lawmakers' disillusionment, the two flanks, intermittently, showed a modicum of mutual respect: though limited, the two sides indirectly shared power, went through the motion and contributed to policy-making typically over a strip of non-controversial subjects"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.