This paper argues that empires in the age of nations are beset by cultural contradictions that undermine attempts to create a cohesive social bloc able to achieve hegemonic rule. The proposition is tested through an examination of the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth...

The presence of a stable, consolidated democracy in the poor and unequal country of India poses a puzzle for contemporary democratic theorists, who contend that low levels of economic development and high levels of inequality and illiteracy are inimical to democracy. Yet a scholarly consensus on...