Influence of Hinduism upon political modernization in India

With the arrival of political independence for Asian states increasing attention has been focussed on analyzing problems of political modernization among these states. For this purpose various approaches have been used. But unfortunately most of the Western writers who concern themselves with the problems faced by developing countries in modernization process tend to equate institutionalization with political development. It is the hypothesis of this paper that mere adaptation of Western institutions in itself does not guarantee political modernization. With the change in institutions there must come a change in the attitudes and behavioral patterns of the great masses of people consistent with these new institutions. To test this hypothesis the author has taken India as an example, and tried to show how persistence of traditional behavioral patterns based on the philosophy of Hinduism in Indian society can hinder the political modernization process. The conceptual framework was borrowed from Almond, Gabriel and Bingham Powell, Comparative Politics: A Developmental Approach. The conclusion derived from the study is that the persistence of traditional behavior patterns in Indian politics, originating from the philosophy of Hinduism is detrimental to the political modernization and what is needed today is reorientation of behavioral patterns through the program of mass education.