In this article I use the economic theories of pressure groups and rent seeking to analyze the change in the social structure of postindependence India.2 there are two primary findings. The first is that the large role government has in the economic life of India has had a substantial effect on Indian social evolution, in particular, on caste and tribal loyalties. As a result, a social structure that would otherwise have become less important has been maintained and even expanded. Rent seeking thus provides a positive theory of Indian cultural change. The second finding is that causation also runs from culture to economics and politics. For example rent-seeking opportunities combined with a substantial number of readymade pressure groups that existed in India at independence have stunted the growth of the more traditional groups, such as those found in the other parliamentary democracies in the developing world and elsewhere. Section II presents a theory of the determinants of pressure-group formation, and a Section III provides the necessary Indian historical priors. Scetion IV describes the phenomenon that is of primary interest to us, namely, that traditional factions in India are becoming increasingly important in politics even as they become less important in economic life. Section V outlines why existing social scienc theory cannot explain this disparity, Section VI explores the ability of pressure-group theory to explain Indian political behavior, and Section VII lays out empirical predictions for India's future based on the theory presented. Section VIII concludes.
