India's billionplus population represents a complex diversity of religious, linguistic, and caste communities brought together under one political tent.

In an IDRC public lecture, Indian scholar Yogendra Yadav examines how India achieves political unity through its support of social diversity and efforts to create constitutional and legal safeguards for the country's many different groups. Focusing on India's unexpected successes and several instructive cases of failure he suggests lessons for how other democracies can accommodate multinational diversity.