Democratic decentralisation and poverty reduction in Madhya Pradesh: searching for an institutional equilibrium
McCarten, William Vyasulu, Vinod
McCarten, William
Vyasulu, Vinod
Citations
Altmetric:
Titre
Publication date
2004-11-01
Document type
Journal article
Pages
8
Author(s)
Advisors
Editor(s)
Other Contributors
Affiliation
ePub Date
Submitted date
Local subject classification
MeSH
Country
Collections
Description
This paper reviews the lessons of democratic decentralisation in Madhya Pradesh (MP), a poor and semi-feudal Indian state that emerged as a leader and bold experimenter in institutional design in the 1990s. Despite inauspicious beginnings, political leadership in MP set out to use decentralisation as a lever to expand and improve basic service delivery. The architects of the MP strategy were fully aware of the social and economic constraints, but they believed that through careful design, proper support to build social capital, and the achievement of early successes, the initiative could unlock powerful forces for community development. This article focuses on two initiatives, one to improve access to school and another to promote direct democracy at the village level. The authors find that, while the first phase of decentralisation has resulted in some significant improvements, especially in the area of education, the second stage has been far less successful.<p>This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.</p>
Language
English
Other Titles
Abstract
Citation
Journal
Development in Practice
Journal Theme
Volume
14
Issue
6
Research Unit
Table of contents
Series
ISSN
0961-4524
EISSN
1364-9213