ABSTRACT
The coexistence of primordial loyalties based on caste, kinship, ethnic identities, religious communities and extended family networks (biradari) with modern political institutions like elections, political parties and other institutions is a puzzling feature of South Asian politics. Political actors in these societies appear to travel effortlessly between these two contradictory norms. Individual preferences that go into the making of electoral outcomes are deeply affected by collective, organic identities. This has two main consequences. First, despite occasional spells of military dictatorship, politics in South Asia is conducted mostly through elections, professional bureaucracies, judiciaries and legislative processes. However, while these institutions have a family resemblance to similar ones in Western liberal democracies, the contents sometimes look beyond liberal values. Second, the stability of these modern institutions varies greatly within the region as a result of differences in the evolutionary path taken by the country that provides the contextual background.
