A study of the new panchayats of UP provides an opportunity for understanding the role played by social capital in the functioning of democratic institutions in segmented societies. A key finding of the study in two districts of UP, Meerut and Azamgarh, is that segmentation arising out of caste/class divisions is a significant contextual variable in determining the development of trust, social capital between groups and democratic functioning.
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Comments
EPW looks forward to your comments. Please note that comments are moderated as per our comments policy. They may take some time to appear. A comment, if suitable, may be selected for publication in the Letters pages of EPW.