At long last, you can now pre-order my forthcoming book, When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics, on Amazon. The book will be published by Yale University Press in the US and UK and by HarperCollins India in South Asia.

Here’s a brief description:

In India, the world’s largest democracy, the symbiotic relationship between crime and politics raises complex questions. For instance, how can free and fair democratic processes exist alongside rampant criminality? Why do political parties recruit candidates with reputations for wrongdoing? Why are one-third of state and national legislators elected—and often re-elected—in spite of criminal charges pending against them? In this eye-opening study, political scientist Milan Vaishnav mines a rich array of sources, including fieldwork on political campaigns and interviews with candidates, party workers, and voters, large surveys, and an original database on politicians’ backgrounds to offer the first comprehensive study of an issue that has implications for the study of democracy both within and beyond India’s borders.

More details to come in the weeks and months ahead.