Invited spaces, invited participation: Effects of greater participation on accountability in service delivery

India Review

Volumn 9, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 204-229

  Aiyar, Yamini ^a  

^a Centre for Policy Research   (India)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 79956248727     PISSN: 14736489     EISSN: 15573036     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14736489.2010.483370     Document Type: Article

References (54)

1. Andrea Cornwall, "Making Spaces, Changing Places: Situating Participation in Development," IDS Working Paper, No. 170 (2002).
2. Karen Brock, Andrea Cornwall, and John Gaventa, "Power, knowledge and political spaces in the framing of poverty policy," IDS Working Paper, No. 143 (2002).
3. This section draws on a larger study that analyzes the evolution of accountability debates and the role of citizens within it. This section is a narrower interpretation that focuses specifically on state sponsored, invited spaces.
4. For a comprehensive review of accountability debates and citizen participation see Bala Posani and Yamini Aiyar, "State of accountability: Evolution, practice and emerging questions in public accountability in India," AI, Working Paper Vol. 1, No.2, (2009), www.accountabilityindia.org.
5. See for instance, Elinor Ostrom, "Crossing the Great Divide: Co-production, Synergy, and Development," World Development Vol. 24, No. 6 (1996), pp. 1073-88.
6. Judith Tendler, Good government in the tropics, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997).
7. Peter Evans, "'Introduction: development strategies across the public-private divide," World Development Vol. 24 No. 6, (1996) pp. 1033-1037.
8. Harry Blair, "Participation and Accountability and the Periphery: Democratic Local Governance in Six Countries," World Development Vol. 28, No. 1 (2000), pp. 21-39.
9. Andrea Cornwall and John Gaventa, "From User and Choosers to Makers and Shapers: Repositioning Participation in Social Policy," IDS Working Paper, No. 127, (2001).
10. John Gaventa, "Strengthening Participatory Approaches to Local Governance: Learning the Lessons from Abroad," National Civic Review, Vol. 93, No. 4 (2004). Accessible from http://www.ncl.org.
11. See also Cornwall and Gaventa, "From User and Choosers".
12. Cornwall "Making Spaces, Changing places."
13. Vijayendra Rao and Paromita Sanyal, "Dignity through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies," World Bank Research Working Paper, No. 4924, (2009). Accessible from http://www.worldbank.org.
14. It is important to note that this is part of a world-wide trend. For a comprehensive review and analysis see James Manor, "A Potentially Damaging Second Wave of Decentralization," European Journal of Development Research Vol. 16, No. 1 (2004), pp. 184-203. Accessible from http://www.wri.org.
15. Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are special purpose fiscal transfers from the Central government to States and are primarily used for social sector schemes. Constitutionally social sector programs lie in the domain of the state. However, since the mid 1970s and more rapidly in the late 1990s continuing to the present, the Government of India (or national/central government as it is often referred to) has come to play a greater role in service delivery. CSS are the primary instrument through which the center funds its social sector programs. These are now the largest funding vehicle for social sector programs in the country.
16. John Ackerman, "Co-Governance for Accountability: Beyond 'Exit' and 'Voice'," World Development Vol. 32, No. 3 (2004), pp.447-63.
17. Anne Marie Goetz and Rob Jenkins, "Hybrid Forms of Accountability: Citizen Engagement in Institutions of Public Oversight in India," Public Management Review Vol. 3, No.3 (2001), pp. 363-84.
18. For a comprehensive review of the emergence of the Right to Information Movement see Ann Marie Goetz and Rob Jenkins, "Accounts and Accountability: Theoretical Implications of the Right to Information Movement in India," Third World Quarterly Vol. 20, No. 3 (1999), pp.603-22.
19. For more details on the evolution of the social audit process, see Goetz and Jenkins, "Hybrid Accountability."
20. See, for instance, Bill Cooke and Uma Kothari "The case for Participation as Tyranny". Bill Cooke and Uma Kothari, eds., Participation: The New Tyranny? (Zed Books: London, 2000).
21. Andrea Cornwall, "Making spaces, changing places."
22. See, for instance, Harry Blair, "Participation and Accountability,"
23. Jean Paul Faguet, "Governance from Below: A Theory of Local with Two Empirical Tests," Political Economy and Public Policy Series, No. 12, (2009) London School of Economics.
24. Patrick Heller, K.N. Harilal, and Shubham Chaudhuri, "Building Local Democracy: Evaluating the Impact of Decentralization in Kerala," World Development Vol. No. 35, No. 4 (2007), pp.626-48.
25. As reported in World Bank, "Local Governments and Service Delivery" in "India: Inclusive Growth and Service Delivery: Building on India's Success," Development Policy Review, 2006. Accessible from http://www.worldbank.org.
26. Tim Beseley, Vijayendra Rao, and Rohini Pande, "The Political Economy of Gram Panchayats in South India: Drawing Policy Implications from a Research Project on Democratically Elected Village Governments," (2005). Accessible from http://www.cutlureandpublicaction.org.
27. Richard C. Crook and Alan Strula Sverrison, "Decentralization and Poverty-Alleviation in Developing Countries: a Comparative Analysis or is West Bengal Unique?," IDS Working Paper, No. 130 (2001). Accessible from http://www.ids.ac.uk.
28. See, for instance, Sanjay Kumar and Stuart Coorbridge, "Programmed to fail? Development project and the politics of participation," Journal of Development Studies, No.2 (2002), pp. 73-103
29. David Mosse, "Peoples Knowledge, Participation and Patronage: Operations and Representations in Rural Development," in Bill Cooke and Uma Kothari, eds., Participation: The New Tyranny?, (Zed Books: London, 2000).
30. Rao and Sanyal, "Dignity through Discourse".
31. Heller, Harilal and Chaudhuri, "Building Local Democracy."
32. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Dufflo, Rukmini Banerjee, Rachel Glennester, Stuti Khemani, "Can Information Campaigns Spark Local Participation and Improve Local Outcomes? A Study of Primary Education in Uttar Pradesh, India," World Bank Policy Research Working Article 3967 (2006). Accessible from http://www.worldbank.org.
33. Survey results available at www.accountabilityindia.org.
34. Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerjee, Esther Dufflo, Rachel Glennerster and Stuti Khemani, "Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India," World Bank Policy Research Working Article, No. 4584, (2008). Accessible from http://www.worldbank.org.
35. RAAG, "Safeguarding the Right to Information: Report of the People's RTI Assessment, 2008" (2008). Accessible from http://www.rti-assesment.org.
36. Patrick Heller, K.N. Harilal, and Shubham Chaudhuri, "Building Local Democracy."
37. Tim Besely, Vijayendra Rao, and Rohini Pande, "The Political Economy of Gram Panchayats in South India: Drawing Policy Implications from a Research Project on Democratically Elected Village Governments," (2005). Accessible from www.cutlureandpublicaction.org.
38. Pranab Bardhan, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, and Adhirup Sarkar "Polital Participation, Clientilism and Targeting of Local Development Programs: Analysis of Survey Results from Rural West Bengal, India," The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-171, Boston University, Department of Economics (2008). Accessible from http://www.bu.edu.
39. Rao and Sanyal, "Dignity through Discourse."
40. Pradeep K. Chibber, Democracy Without Associations: Transformation of the Party System and Social Cleavages in India (University of Michigan Press: Ann Habour, 1999).
41. Partha Chatterjee, "Democracy and the Violence of the State: a Political Negotiation of Death," Inter-Asian Cultural Studies Vol. No. 2, No. 1, pp. 7-21.
42. Heller, Harilal, and Chaudhuri, "Building Local Democracy"
43. Heller, Harilal, and Chaudhuri, "Building Local Democracy."
44. Rene Veron, Stuart Coorbridge, Glyn Williams, and Manoj Srivastava, "The Everyday State and Political Society in Eastern India: Structuring Access to the Employment Assurance Scheme," Journal of Development Studies Vol. 39, No. 5 (2003), pp. 1-28.
45. For more details see study hhtp://www.rd.ap.gov.in.
46. See also, Yamini Aiyar and Salimah Samji, "Transparency and Accountability in NREGA: A Case Study of Andhra Pradesh," AI Working Paper Series, Vol. 1 No. 1 (2009). Accessible from hhtp://www.accountabilityindia.org.
47. A note on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2005 and offers rural citizens a guarantee of 100 days manual labor employment. According to the Act, employment is provided on a demand basis, i.e., citizens wanting to work, can ask for work at the Gram Sabha. If work is not provided within fifteen days of a demand being placed, the state government is obliged to provide citizens with an unemployment allowance. Work is provided for building public assets. The decision on the nature of assets to be created is made by the Gram Panchayat in consultation with the Gram Sabha. To prevent corruption, the Act has built into it various transparency features including the mandatory conduct of social audits. Moreover, contractors and the use of machinery for building assets are banned. Finally, employment must be provided at minimum wages and payment must be made to beneficiaries within fifteen days of completion of work.
48. Karuna Akella and Sowmya Kidambi, "Social Audits in Andhra Pradesh: A process in evolution," Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. No 42, No. 7 (2007), pp. 18-9.
49. See, for instance, Shylashri Shankar, Raghav Gaiha, and Raghabendra Jha, "Information and Corruption: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India," ASARC, Working Paper, 2010/2 (2010). Accessible from http://www.rspas.anu.edu.au.
50. One caveat, the sample in the study was skewed in favor of SC/ST's and women. While most of the sample did, in fact, participate in the social audits we cannot measure, from this data-set, how their participation compared with that of the non-poor. This question merits greater research.
51. Banerjee, Banerjee, Duflo, Glennerster, and Khemani, "Pitfalls of Participatory Programs."
52. In September 2009, the Government of India issued a Government Order mandating the creation of district level ombudsmen. For details see www.nrega.nic.in.
53. In February 2009, a group of civil society activists organized the country's first ever Lok Adalat for resolving citizen grievances with the National Rural employment Guarantee Act. The Lok Adalat itself came up against many problems but it did, as the organizers themselves suggest hold some promise.
54. For more details see: "Lok Adalat or Joke Adalt," The Hindu, February 22, 2009.