•  
Main Banner Image
Governance

Like father, like son? The economic impacts of political dynasties in India

  • Articles

Does political reservation for women improve programme delivery?

This column outlines results of a study that assesses the impact of women leaders on corruption and other aspects of the quality of delivery of MNREGA. It argues that administrative experience, traini...

  • Articles

Do roads bring votes in rural India?

A large-scale rural roads programme in India has provided access to over two-third of villages that lacked a paved road in 2001. Do citizens reward incumbent governments electorally for these improvem...

  • Articles

Oral democracy

Critical scrutiny of the challenges of electoral democracy including elite capture, corruption, and patronage has led to a revival of the idea of direct democracy – giving power directly to groups o...

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

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 Randomized Evaluation of the Madhya Pradesh School Quality Assessment Program

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

Building connections: Political corruption and road construction in India

Rural infrastructure programmes of the government create new opportunities for growth but also for corruption. This column studies India’s flagship rural road construction programme and finds eviden...

  • Articles

Surrogacy bill: Boon or ban(e)?

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 proposes a complete ban on commercial surrogacy and restrictions on altruistic surrogacy. In this article, Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics, London School...

  • Perspectives

Data openness and the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill

According to the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016, the acquisition or use of any geospatial information will require permission from a government authority. In this note, Ghosh and Malhotr...

  • Notes

Panel Discussion: Two years of Modi government

In a panel discussion organised to mark the 4th anniversary of Ideas for India, I4I Editor Parikshit Ghosh (Delhi School of Economics) moderates a discussion on ‘Two years of Modi government’ am...

  • Videos

Recent Contributors

Anandi

Anandi Mani

Blavatnik School of Government

Lakshmi

Lakshmi Iyer

University of Notre Dame

Naveen

Naveen Sunder

Cornell University

Ashwini

Ashwini Deshpande

Ashoka University

Rajesh

Rajesh Ramachandran

Heidelberg University

Britta

Britta Augsburg

Institute for Fiscal Studies

Bet

Bet Caeyers

Institute for Fiscal Studies; NHH Norwegian School

Sara

Sara Giunti

University of Milan-Bicocca

View all Contributors

Most Popular Governance Posts

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

Rural development programmes: Implementation challenges and solutions

With a majority of the population living in rural areas in India, rural development is key to the development of the country. Based on his experience of working closely with the district administratio...

  • Perspectives

Governance and public service delivery in India

The International Growth Centre recently produced a synthesis paper (Afridi 2017) bringing together insights from its research on governance and public service delivery in India, over the past seven y...

  • Perspectives