IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v120y2019icp147-158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reshaping the public domain: Decentralization, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and trajectories of local democracy in rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Fischer, Harry W.
  • Ali, Syed Shoaib

Abstract

Over the past three decades, governments around the world have undertaken reforms for decentralization. These reforms are founded on the belief that more democratic participation in local governance will lead to better outcomes for rural development, public service delivery, and environmental governance. However, the effects of these efforts have been highly variable in practice. Extensive literature has studied the factors associated with different outcomes of policy interest, yet we continue to lack knowledge of how local democracy evolves through changing power relationships over time. In this article, we draw together two dominant threads of scholarship, which have emphasized the social and institutional dimensions of democratic deepening respectively, to develop an analysis of local political change through the conceptual lens of the public domain. We define the public domain as comprising three distinct yet interrelated elements: (a) the citizens that are constituted as a “public”, (b) the collection of “public goods” that they are able to access, and (c) the means and channels by which they seek to influence decision-making. Through case studies of three local governments in the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh, we show how the decentralized architecture of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)—the largest downward transfer of resources to local elected governments to date—has interacted with local histories of social and institutional change, leading to different trajectories of political transformation. While the devolution of resources under the MGNREGA has improved access to state resources and increased participation in development planning overall, the intensity, equity, and extent of influence varies according to the character of local political relationships. By offering a relational and processual understanding of how local governance evolves over time, the public domain lends new insight into the ways that decentralization is redefining citizenship through new articulations of the ‘public’ in local democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Fischer, Harry W. & Ali, Syed Shoaib, 2019. "Reshaping the public domain: Decentralization, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and trajectories of local democracy in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 147-158.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:120:y:2019:i:c:p:147-158
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X18303450
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Archon Fung & Erik Olin Wright, 2001. "Deepening Democracy: Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance," Politics & Society, , vol. 29(1), pages 5-41, March.
    2. Fox, Jonathan, 1996. "How does civil society thicken? the political construction of social capital in rural Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1089-1103, June.
    3. Lund, Jens Friis & Saito-Jensen, Moeko, 2013. "Revisiting the Issue of Elite Capture of Participatory Initiatives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 104-112.
    4. Prakash Kashwan, 2016. "Integrating power in institutional analysis: A micro-foundation perspective," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(1), pages 5-26, January.
    5. Marcesse, Thibaud, 2018. "Public Policy Reform and Informal Institutions: The Political Articulation of the Demand for Work in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 284-296.
    6. Crook,Richard C. & Manor,James, 1998. "Democracy and Decentralisation in South Asia and West Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521636476.
    7. Sunita Abraham, 2014. "The Necessity of Engaging with Politics: Lessons from the Grass Roots in South India," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(2-3), pages 56-69, March.
    8. Ackerman, John, 2004. "Co-Governance for Accountability: Beyond "Exit" and "Voice"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 447-463, March.
    9. Das, Upasak, 2015. "Does Political Activism and Affiliation Affect Allocation of Benefits in the Rural Employment Guarantee Program: Evidence from West Bengal, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 202-217.
    10. James Manor, 2004. "Democratisation with Inclusion: political reforms and people's empowerment at the grassroots," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 5-29.
    11. Ribot, Jesse C. & Agrawal, Arun & Larson, Anne M., 2006. "Recentralizing While Decentralizing: How National Governments Reappropriate Forest Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1864-1886, November.
    12. Anuradha Joshi & Markus Schultze‐Kraft, 2014. "Introduction – Localising Governance: An Outlook on Research and Policy," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(5), pages 1-8, September.
    13. Jesse C. Ribot, 2001. "Integral local development: "accommodating multiple interests" through entrustment and accountable representation," International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(3/4), pages 327-350.
    14. Fox, Jonathan A., 2015. "Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 346-361.
    15. Anne Marie Goetz & Rob Jenkins, 2001. "Hybrid Forms Of Accountability: Citizen engagement in institutions of public-sector oversight in India," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 363-383, September.
    16. Fischer, Harry W., 2016. "Beyond Participation and Accountability: Theorizing Representation in Local Democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 111-122.
    17. Maiorano, Diego, 2014. "The Politics of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Andhra Pradesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 95-105.
    18. Faguet, Jean-Paul, 2014. "Decentralization and Governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 2-13.
    19. J-P. Platteau & A. Abraham, 2002. "Participatory Development in the Presence of Endogenous Community Imperfections," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 104-136.
    20. Veron, Rene & Williams, Glyn & Corbridge, Stuart & Srivastava, Manoj, 2006. "Decentralized Corruption or Corrupt Decentralization? Community Monitoring of Poverty-Alleviation Schemes in Eastern India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1922-1941, November.
    21. Poteete, Amy R. & Ribot, Jesse C., 2011. "Repertoires of Domination: Decentralization as Process in Botswana and Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 439-449, March.
    22. Ravi, Shamika & Engler, Monika, 2015. "Workfare as an Effective Way to Fight Poverty: The Case of India’s NREGS," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 57-71.
    23. Crook,Richard C. & Manor,James, 1998. "Democracy and Decentralisation in South Asia and West Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521631570.
    24. Glyn Williams & Binitha V Thampi, 2013. "Decentralisation and the Changing Geographies of Political Marginalisation in Kerala," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(6), pages 1337-1357, June.
    25. Batterbury, Simon P.J. & Fernando, Jude L., 2006. "Rescaling Governance and the Impacts of Political and Environmental Decentralization: An Introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1851-1863, November.
    26. Heller, Patrick & Harilal, K.N. & Chaudhuri, Shubham, 2007. "Building Local Democracy: Evaluating the Impact of Decentralization in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 626-648, April.
    27. Agarwal, Bina, 2013. "Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women's Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199683024, Decembrie.
    28. Andrea J. Nightingale & Hemant R. Ojha, 2013. "Rethinking Power and Authority: Symbolic Violence and Subjectivity in Nepal's Terai Forests," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(1), pages 29-51, January.
    29. Fritzen, Scott A., 2007. "Can the Design of Community-Driven Development Reduce the Risk of Elite Capture? Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1359-1375, August.
    30. Dan Brockington, 2008. "Corruption, Taxation and Natural Resource Management in Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 103-126.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rodriguez, Zachary, 2022. "The power of employment: Effects of India’s employment guarantee on women empowerment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Dutta, Anwesha & Fischer, Harry W., 2021. "The local governance of COVID-19: Disease prevention and social security in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Foa, Roberto Stefan, 2022. "Decentralization, historical state capacity and public goods provision in Post-Soviet Russia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    4. A. Amarender Reddy & Namrata Singha Roy & Divya Pradeep, 2021. "Has India’s Employment Guarantee Program Achieved Intended Targets?," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    5. Fischer, Harry W., 2021. "Decentralization and the governance of climate adaptation: Situating community-based planning within broader trajectories of political transformation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Devanshi Chanchani, 2023. "Two Cheers for Decentralisation: Unpacking Mechanisms, Politics and Accountability in the ICDS, Central India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 891-913, August.
    7. James Natia Adam & Timothy Adams & Jean-David Gerber, 2021. "The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fischer, Harry W., 2016. "Beyond Participation and Accountability: Theorizing Representation in Local Democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 111-122.
    2. Akerkar, Supriya & Joshi, P.C. & Fordham, Maureen, 2016. "Cultures of Entitlement and Social Protection: Evidence from Flood Prone Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 46-58.
    3. Fischer, Harry W., 2021. "Decentralization and the governance of climate adaptation: Situating community-based planning within broader trajectories of political transformation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Ganesh Prasad Pandeya & Shree Krishna Shrestha, 2016. "Does Citizen Participation Improve Local Planning? An Empirical Analysis of Stakeholders’ Perceptions in Nepal," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 11(3), pages 276-304, December.
    5. Fox, Jonathan A., 2015. "Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 346-361.
    6. García-López, Gustavo A., 2019. "Rethinking elite persistence in neoliberalism: Foresters and techno-bureaucratic logics in Mexico’s community forestry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 169-181.
    7. Jusrut, Poonam, 2022. "Localization of elite capture in wood charcoal production and trade: Implications for development outcomes of a forest management program in rural Senegal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Béné, Christophe & Belal, Emma & Baba, Malloum Ousman & Ovie, Solomon & Raji, Aminu & Malasha, Isaac & Njaya, Friday & Na Andi, Mamane & Russell, Aaron & Neiland, Arthur, 2009. "Power Struggle, Dispute and Alliance Over Local Resources: Analyzing 'Democratic' Decentralization of Natural Resources through the Lenses of Africa Inland Fisheries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1935-1950, December.
    9. Julia Brown, 2014. "Evaluating Participatory Initiatives in South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(2), pages 21582440145, April.
    10. Saguin, Kidjie, 2018. "Why the poor do not benefit from community-driven development: Lessons from participatory budgeting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 220-232.
    11. Grillos, Tara, 2017. "Participatory Budgeting and the Poor: Tracing Bias in a Multi-Staged Process in Solo, Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 343-358.
    12. Verbrugge, Boris, 2015. "Decentralization, Institutional Ambiguity, and Mineral Resource Conflict in Mindanao, Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 449-460.
    13. Wilfahrt, Martha, 2018. "The politics of local government performance: Elite cohesion and cross-village constraints in decentralized Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 149-161.
    14. Scheba, Andreas & Mustalahti, Irmeli, 2015. "Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 7-18.
    15. Costanza, Jennifer Noel, 2016. "Mining Conflict and the Politics of Obtaining a Social License: Insight from Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 97-113.
    16. Sheely, Ryan, 2015. "Mobilization, Participatory Planning Institutions, and Elite Capture: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 251-266.
    17. Kumar, Kundan & Singh, Neera M. & Kerr, John M., 2015. "Decentralisation and democratic forest reforms in India: Moving to a rights-based approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Dutta, Anwesha & Fischer, Harry W., 2021. "The local governance of COVID-19: Disease prevention and social security in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    19. Devanshi Chanchani, 2023. "Two Cheers for Decentralisation: Unpacking Mechanisms, Politics and Accountability in the ICDS, Central India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 891-913, August.
    20. Mustalahti, Irmeli & Gutiérrez-Zamora, Violeta & Hyle, Maija & Devkota, Bishnu Prasad & Tokola, Nina, 2020. "Responsibilization in natural resources governance: A romantic doxa?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:120:y:2019:i:c:p:147-158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.