With the end of the Cold War, interest in the core-values of state, pluralism, secularism and equality have intensified. This important volume examines these principal values in the differing historical and socio-cultural contexts of Europe and India, emphasising their fundamental role in democratic governance, and highlighting the wide variations in both their meaning and content in different cultures. Comprising contributions from distinguished scholars, this volume constitutes a lucid and cogent analysis of recent shifts in public policies and political polemics on the meaning and content of various core-values.