Live performance of local government—including both political representatives and the bureaucracy. Conceptually there is little disagreement on the political and administrative dimensions of accountability, and their relation to the institutions of local government. Transparency and...

The present study uses the concept of ‘social consciousness’ to address the problem whether elites possess attitudes and beliefs which are essentially ‘pro-poor’. Though poverty is often manifested in their own neighbourhood, their direct interaction with the poor is limited. There is...

The "Panchayat Jamabandhi" is an innovative administrative mechanism to bring in transparency and accountability in administration at the Grama Panchayat level. Under this new mechanism, citizens are given an opportunity to access documents and files of the grama Panchayats thereby making the...