Main Banner Image

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

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...

  • Articles

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 ...

  • Articles
Refine list by:
--Please Select--
--Please Select--

Deconstructing the global wave of right-wing populism

At present, there seems to be palpable reaction against ideas of tolerance, minority rights, freedom of expression, and respect for individual autonomy and dignity, in many parts of the world. In thi...

  • Perspectives

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

Do Gram Panchayat leaders favour their own constituencies in MNREGA fund allocation?

Political incentives are known to play a role in the allocation of public resources from upper- to lower-tier governments. This column seeks to examine whether ruling parties in local governments favo...

  • Articles

Governance performance of Indian states: 2001-02 and 2011-12

Defining governance as service delivery, this column develops a measure of the quality of governance – also adjusting for the impact of the level of development - and provides a ranking of major Ind...

  • Articles

The devil is in the details: Successes and limitations of bureaucratic reform

To address absenteeism among staff at public healthcare facilities, the government of Karnataka introduced an innovative biometric device to monitor and enforce attendance rules. This column presents ...

  • Articles

Politician's pain is poor man's gain: Income distribution in close-election constituencies

Studies have highlighted the role of electoral competition in directing the flow of public funds. Analysing data from India, this column finds lower income inequality and polarisation in tightly conte...

  • Articles

Surrogacy bill: Implications and way forward

Contributing to the ongoing debate on India’s surrogacy bill, Dutta and Sarkar discuss the potential implications of the bill on the country’s billion-dollar surrogacy industry. They contend that ...

  • Perspectives

Improving School Governance at Scale: A Randomised Evaluation of the Madhya Pradesh School Quality Assessment Programme

Weak governance is a critical constraint in delivering quality education in developing countries. This project conducts a randomised evaluation of one of the most ambitious recent attempts by a develo...

  • IGC Research on India

Can the female sarpanch deliver? Evidence from Maharashtra

One-third of all seats in village councils are reserved for women. The government has proposed an increase in quota to 50%, and in the period of reservation from five to 10 years. Based on a survey co...

  • Articles

Banning commercial surrogacy in India

In an attempt to protect the welfare of surrogate mothers, the Indian government has proposed to introduce legislation that will ban commercial surrogacy in the country. In this article, Ajit Karnik, ...

  • Perspectives

The Political Effects of Programmatic Development Policy: Can Bihar Break the Clientelist Trap?

This project aims to understand the conditions of supporting the continuation and expansion of programmatic governance in Bihar state. Bihar’s "clientelism trap" (incentives to return to clientelist...

  • IGC Research on India

Modi and his challenges: Leading India on its march to prosperity

Despite Narendra Modi’s successful leadership as Chief Minister of Gujarat, some question his ability to achieve the same progress at the national level as India’s Prime Minister. In this article,...

  • Perspectives

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

Anders

Anders Kjelsrud

Oslo Metropolitan University

View all Contributors

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, ...

  • Articles

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