This book explores experiences, issues and challenges which have emerged since Constitutional status was granted to the local bodies at grassroots level in India in the early 1990s. Among other issues, it focuses on: the contrasting political ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar on Panchayati Raj Institutions the legal and constitutional provisions which were introduced through the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts the devolution process, status and challenges of democracy for local governmental bodies empowerment of the women and lower castes through reservations in the local bodies governance in Schedule V and VI tribal areas Based on extensive fieldwork across India, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, sociology, public administration as well as policymakers and civil society activists.

Offering new insights into the political economy of contemporary India, this book considers how and why unequal patterns of economic growth have taken shape within the context of a democratic and decentralising political system, and how this has impacted upon the processes of economic development.

Articles chiefly with reference to the state of Rajasthan, India.

This book provides a vantage point of comparison, of the actual reality of decentralisation in India with Gandhi’s vision of decentralised democracy, or what he referred to as Gram Swaraj. It looks at the historical evolution of panchayats from ancient times to India’s independence, and critically discusses the developments after. It examines the functioning of the present Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and the performances of urban local bodies. The basic thrust of this work is the need for constitutional reforms meant to strengthen and deepen democracy. The book will be useful to those in political studies, policy studies, public administration and development studies.

Why Democracy Deepens explains how socio-economic changes in India are shaping its politics to promote grassroots democracy.

This book is an in-depth empirical study of four Asian and African attempts to create democratic, decentralised local governments in the late 1980s and 1990s. The case studies of Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Karnataka (India) and Bangladesh focus upon the enhancement of participation; accountability between people, politicians and bureaucrats; and, most importantly, on whether governmental performance actually improved in comparison with previous forms of administration. The book is systematically comparative, and based upon extensive popular surveys and local field work. It makes an important contribution to current debates in the development literature on whether 'good governance' and decentralisation can provide more responsive and effective services for the mass of the population - the poor and disadvantaged who live in the rural areas.

The institution of Panchayati Raj is not new to India. It existed since earliest times. We get ample references about the Panchayats in the Manusmriti, the Arthsastra and the Mahabharata. During the Muslim rule also the system continued to operate unobstructed. With the assumption of power by the British and the adoption of policy of centralization, the Panchayats suffered a temporary setback. But soon the British realized the value of this institution and the Decentralization Commission recommended in its report in 1907. “In ignoring the village as the primary unit of local self- government, the government made the beginning with a false step. This scanty success hit her to make to introduce a system of rural self-government, is largely due to the fact that we have not built from the bottom and hence it is most desirable to constitute and develop village Panchayats for administration of certain local affairs with the villages”