The present volume, The State of Local Governance: A Compendium of Deliberations - Local Governance 2020-2021, is a compilation of analytical and critical reflections and examination of the local governance policies adapted for guaranteed sustainable habitat and shelter, health, environment, education and employment. The compendium is a product of the conversation series, Local Governance, organised by IMPRI, Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi. The series meditates upon existing policies, their execution, drawbacks and successive attempts for desired results in local governance. It explores the possible strategies adopted in the post-pandemic era for sustainable habitat and environment, the problems of housing in urban localities, and the role of local government in natural disaster-stricken areas. It contemplates initiatives for inclusive city planning, safe sanitation for all, disaster resilience plans and the role of people, such as the People Power Campaign (PPC) in development discourses.

Studies citizens' deliberation on governance and development in Indian democracy, and the influence of state policy and literacy, analysing three hundred village assemblies. This title is also available as Open Access.

The twenty-first century is characterized by the global circulation of cultures, norms, representations, discourses, and human rights claims; the arising conflicts require innovative understandings of decision making. Deliberative Acts develops a new, cogent theory of performative deliberation. Rather than conceiving deliberation within the familiar frameworks of persuasion, identification, or procedural democracy, it privileges speech acts and bodily enactments that constitute deliberation itself, reorienting deliberative theory toward the initiating moment of recognition, a moment in which interlocutors are positioned in relationship to each other and so may begin to construct a new lifeworld. By approaching human rights not as norms or laws, but as deliberative acts, Lyon conceives rights as relationships among people and as ongoing political and historical projects developing communal norms through global and cross-cultural interactions.

"Robert Asen explores the ways that school board members in the U.S. engage each other to make decisions for their local communities. He addresses issues of ideology, scarcity, expertise, and trust while examining the perils and promise of local policymaking"--Provided by publisher.

Reconnecting with the sources of decisions that affect us, and with the processes of democracy itself, is at the heart of 21st-century sustainable communities. Slow Democracy chronicles the ways in which ordinary people have mobilized to find local solutions to local problems. It invites us to bring the advantages of "slow" to our community decision making. Just as slow food encourages chefs and eaters to become more intimately involved with the production of local food, slow democracy encourages us to govern ourselves locally with processes that are inclusive, deliberative, and citizen powered. Susan Clark and Woden Teachout outline the qualities of real, local decision making and show us the range of ways that communities are breathing new life into participatory democracy around the country. We meet residents who seize back control of their municipal water systems from global corporations, parents who find unique solutions to seemingly divisive school-redistricting issues, and a host of other citizens across the nation who have designed local decision-making systems to solve the problems unique to their area in ways that work best for their communities. Though rooted in the direct participation that defined our nation's early days, slow democracy is not a romantic vision for reigniting the ways of old. Rather, the strategies outlined here are uniquely suited to 21st-century technologies and culture.If our future holds an increased focus on local food, local energy, and local economy, then surely we will need to improve our skills at local governance as well.

Citizenship has long been a central topic among educators, philosophers, and political theorists. Using the phrase “rhetorical citizenship” as a unifying perspective, Rhetorical Citizenship and Public Deliberation aims to develop an understanding of citizenship as a discursive phenomenon, arguing that discourse is not prefatory to real action but in many ways constitutive of civic engagement. To accomplish this, the book brings together, in a cross-disciplinary effort, contributions by scholars in fields that rarely intersect. For the most part, discussions of citizenship have focused on aspects that are central to the “liberal” tradition of social thought—that is, questions of the freedoms and rights of citizens and groups. This collection gives voice to a “republican” conception of citizenship. Seeing participation and debate as central to being a citizen, this tradition looks back to the Greek city-states and republican Rome. Citizenship, in this sense of the word, is rhetorical citizenship. Rhetoric is thus at the core of being a citizen. Aside from the editors, the contributors are John Adams, Paula Cossart, Jonas Gabrielsen, Jette Barnholdt Hansen, Kasper Møller Hansen, Sine Nørholm Just, Ildikó Kaposi, William Keith, Bart van Klink, Marie Lund Klujeff, Manfred Kraus, Oliver W. Lembcke, Berit von der Lippe, James McDonald, Niels Møller Nielsen, Tatiana Tatarchevskiy, Italo Testa, Georgia Warnke, Kristian Wedberg, and Stephen West.

The system of official economic statistics in India has undergone myriad changes since Independence. There have been various developments in its administrative structures and changing levels of focus on different economic sectors. The types of datasets available for these sectors have been ever-evolving and undergo dynamic changes owing to real-time measurement and analysis using ICT. The Agricultural and Livestock Censuses capture data on the agricultural sector. For the Industries sector, Annual Survey of Industries and the Directorate of Industries in states are the two major sources of data. Since economic liberalisation in India, there has been an increased focus on the Services sector and developing a well-organised mechanism to cover it. This sector is covered by National Sample Surveys, Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ MCA-21 Database, GSTN and others. The unorganised and informal sectors of the economy also find coverage in NSS Rounds on Employment and Enterprises. The Census of India, the Economic Census, Price Indices and NSS Rounds on Consumption Expenditure, Enterprises and Employment, among others, are major sources of economic statistics as well. We also have new arrays of data for the formal sector in the form of EPFO, Direct Tax, Property Tax and others. Using this sector-wise classification of Agriculture, Industries, and Services, and also including the unorganised and informal sectors, the paper explores India’s structure of economic statistics. While the paper draws attention to recent datasets and rounds of surveys, the focus is also on the evolution of the system of official economic statistics in India. The paper highlights issues with the credibility and utility of the available data, in light of a declining GDP growth which also gives rise to more serious questions on the reliability of the country’s data architecture and system of economic statistics. It also discusses structural changes such as those of the MoSPI and NSC. The system of official economic statistics in India now faces the challenge of adapting to Information and Communication Technology. The paper thus emphasises the role of strengthening realtime and Management Information Systems’ data to enable evidence-based policymaking and planning and realise the vision of ‘New India’ and a US$ 5 trillion economy.

Toronto prides itself on being “the world’s most diverse city,” and its officials seek to support this diversity through programs and policies designed to promote social inclusion. Yet this progressive vision of law often falls short in practice, limited by problems inherent in the political culture itself. In Everyday Law on the Street, Mariana Valverde brings to light the often unexpected ways that the development and implementation of policies shape everyday urban life. Drawing on four years spent participating in council hearings and civic association meetings and shadowing housing inspectors and law enforcement officials as they went about their day-to-day work, Valverde reveals a telling transformation between law on the books and law on the streets. She finds, for example, that some of the democratic governing mechanisms generally applauded—public meetings, for instance—actually create disadvantages for marginalized groups, whose members are less likely to attend or articulate their concerns. As a result, both officials and citizens fail to see problems outside the point of view of their own needs and neighborhood. Taking issue with Jane Jacobs and many others, Valverde ultimately argues that Toronto and other diverse cities must reevaluate their allegiance to strictly local solutions. If urban diversity is to be truly inclusive—of tenants as well as homeowners, and recent immigrants as well as longtime residents—cities must move beyond micro-local planning and embrace a more expansive, citywide approach to planning and regulation.

This book investigates participatory budgeting—a mainstay now of World Bank, UNDP, and USAID development programs—to ask whether its reforms truly make a difference in deepening democracy and empowering civil society.

This publication is the first of a series from The Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG), a network of professionals formed to encourage the continuing development of public administration theory and practice through research and other initiatives, and foster cooperation and collaboration between and among the members in pursuit of related and common interests.