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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Describe the characteristics of dominant caste. Discuss its role in village politics in India.

  • UPSC 2003
  • Caste System

M. N. Srinivas coined dominant caste for the group that actually commands a locality, whatever its place in the ritual order. Its interest for political sociology lies in what dominance does: it converts landholding into votes and turns the village into an arena of organised competition.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • Characteristics
  • Land and labour as the basis of political command
  • Factionalism: the form village politics actually takes
  • Panchayats, capture and mediation
  • What is eroding dominance
  • Conclusion

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