The honour code
The singular lack of a vibrant democratic culture of disobedience and dissent within political parties can perhaps be explained with the institution of family - in this case, a joint family. Ironically, at a time when joint families are rapidly disintegrating, political parties have not only appropriated the form, but are reinvigorating and renewing it with one of its essential ingredients - that of demanding unquestioning obedience to the head of the family.