The Puzzle of India's Governance

India no longer gets an easy ride as the world's largest democracy. Spectacular terrorist attacks on its Parliament and places of worship, communal riots of unprecedented ferocity, lingering separatist insurgency and violent caste conflict in impoverished regions have combined to cause a closer appraisal of India's capacity to sustain the rule of law. This book shows how governance is high when people follow the rules of transaction, derived from binding custom, legislation, administrative practices and the constitution. The key question that underpins this analysis is why do some people, sometimes, follow rules and not others? This study responds to this central question by looking at analytical narratives of political order in six Indian regional States, surveys of social and political attitudes and extended interviews with political leaders, administrators and police officers. It shows how, by drawing on the logic of human ingenuity, driven by self interest rather than mechanical adherence to tradition and ideology, these regional elites can design institutions and promote security, welfare and identity which enhance governance.

Introduction: A Comparative Theory of Governance. Measuring Governance: A Design for Empirical Enquiry. The Instittional Arrangement of Governance: Structure and Formation of the State in India. The Regional Context of Governance: Six Analytic Narratives. Policing and Governance: Culture and Context in the Organisation of Order. The Agency of Public Institutions: Leaders, Administrators and Governance. Modern State and Pre-Modern Identities: Governing Culture in Changing Societies. Negotiating Governance in Changing Societies: Beyond the Indian Model. Bibliography of Texts Cited. Appendix 1: Elite Questionnaire with Marginals