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Why political competition matters when inequality is high

In a high-inequality setting, local politicians with secure positions may favour the rich by diverting resources towards them, at the cost of the poor. To test this hypothesis, this article analyses d...

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Are independent candidates unimportant for political representation?

Independent candidates are often deemed ‘frivolous’ or ‘spoilers’ by mainstream political figures and authorities, although there is little to no evidence on their effect on elections. This ar...

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Impact of Electronic Voting Machines on electoral frauds, democracy, and development

In an attempt to curb electoral malpractices, Electronic Voting Machines were introduced on a national scale by the Election Commission of India in the 1990s. Using data from state assembly elections ...

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Is it better to be governed by an elected leader or appointed bureaucrat?

The division of governance functions and responsibilities between politicians and bureaucrats varies, both across and within political regimes. Based on an experiment in Karnataka, this article examin...

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Why political competition matters when inequality is high

In a high-inequality setting, local politicians with secure positions may favour the rich by diverting resources towards them, at the cost of the poor. To test this hypothesis, this article analyses d...

  • Articles

Expected or unexpected? Strategic communication around audits to maximise deterrence

Even with evidence on how audits can be designed to be more effective in deterring corruption by bureaucrats, in practice, budget constraints restrict governments from being able to conduct audits wit...

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The ‘Odisha model’ for disaster resilience

From its management of the devastating Super Cyclone in 1999 to the more recent challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the state of Odisha has been a testament to the power of adaptive governance....

  • Perspectives

From numbers to impact: Learning from effective data management in Rajasthan

Access to good data is critical for evidence-based decision-making in policy. In this note, Santhosh and Kapur discuss insights from a study of Rajasthan’s experience with collecting, sharing and us...

  • Notes from the Field

What does Mission Antyodaya data say about rural deprivation?

Public provisioning of basic facilities such as health and education, remains crucial for marginalised populations. In the context of the decentralised structure of governance and fund allocation in I...

  • Perspectives

Reshaping social protection in India

As India has undergone a transformation in recent decades in terms of trends such as poverty reduction, food security and urbanisation, there is a need to also revamp the traditional social protection...

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What explains policy change? Understanding the historical political economy of India

Drawing on insights from his new book, ‘History of Economic Policy in India’, Rahul De frames policy change as precipitating through three circumstances: crisis, coalitions, and contingency. He us...

  • Perspectives

Political determinants of newspaper markets in India

Newspapers are an important source of political information for Indian voters. This article looks at how political factors influence the newspaper market. Using the announcement of delimitation in the...

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The growing wave of decentralisation: Comparative evidence from developing countries

Over the last few decades, decentralisation has been rapidly spreading in developing countries across the world, with around 35 countries announcing new or deepening decentralisation reforms in recent...

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The growing wave of decentralisation: Comparative evidence from developing countries

Over the last few decades, decentralisation has been rapidly spreading in developing countries across the world, with around 35 countries announcing new or deepening decentralisation reforms in recent...

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How Prayagraj is leveraging wastewater surveillance to prevent another pandemic

This note by Agrawal and Siva outlines efforts taken by the Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh to collect samples from sewage treatment plants and test them for the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. They found a ...

  • Notes from the Field

Recent Contributors

M.R.

M.R. Sharan

University of Maryland

Siddharth

Siddharth George

National University of Singapore

Vijayendra

Vijayendra Rao

World Bank

Abhishek

Abhishek Arora

Harvard University

Nivedita

Nivedita Mantha

World Bank

Kalle

Kalle Moene

University of Oslo

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Anders Kjelsrud

Oslo Metropolitan University

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Most Popular Governance Posts

Unique Health Identification and Aadhaar: A case for mandatory linkage

As part of the Digital India initiative, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) issues a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number to each patient, which documents their entire journey in th...

  • Perspectives

Caste dominance in rural India: Cause and effect

Rural India remains a caste-based society. This column explores why caste continues to play such an important role and what the effects are. It argues that trade and agricultural productivity suffer, ...

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The digital dream: Upskilling India for the future

While the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace at which technology is becoming commonplace in our lives, it has also exposed a stark digital divide, leaving a large proportion of India’s popul...

  • Perspectives