Includes bibliographical references and index.

Including the excluded: empowering the powerless through panchayati raj in Maharashtra / B.S. Baviskar -- Power to the excluded groups and panchayati raj in coastal Orissa / B.B. Mohanty -- Negotiating with empowerment: panchayati raj in Andhra Pradesh / Vinod K Jairath and Srinivas Sajja -- Panchayati raj or party raj?: understanding the nature of local government in West Bengal / Manasendu Kundu -- On the floor and behind the veil: the excluded in the panchayati raj in Haryana / S.R. Ahlawat and Neerja Ahlawat -- Including the excluded through panchayati raj in Karnataka / B.S. Bhargava and K. Subha -- Understanding grassroots power and excluded communities in Kerala / T.G. Suresh -- Caste, party, and democratic decentralization in Karnataka / Lalita Chandrashekhar -- Gender, caste, and politics in rural Tamil Nadu / L. Thara Bhai -- Brushed under the carpet: inclusion and exclusion in Manipur / N. Vijaylakshmi Brara -- Changing power relations through panchayats in Maharashtra / R.B. Patil -- Dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in Uttar Pradesh / Santosh Singh -- Devolution of power through panchayats in Rajasthan / Shashi Bhushan Singh -- Local governance and social change in Gujarat / Satyakam Joshi.