Democratic decentralisation and poverty reduction in Madhya Pradesh

Searching for an Institutional Equilibrium

Bibliographic Data

ID4769168
AuthorsWilliam Mccarten, Vinod Vyasulu
Year2004
Volume14
Issue6
Pages733-740
Publication date2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopment in Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0961-4524 • E-ISSN: 1364-9213
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0961452042000283969
OpenAlexW1990760871
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited1

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. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis

Decentralization · Democracy · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Market economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Poverty reduction · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Law · Mathematics · Social and Economic Development in India · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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