This paper traces the evolution of deliberative institutions in India to understand the role of deliberation in democratic life, as well as the ways in which deliberative bodies influence, and are influenced by, entrenched social inequality. The paper first unpacks the historical roots of Indian...

In democracies, innovative political institutions have opened up scope for direct public participation often in the form of talk: citizens talking to the state and mutual talk among citizens on matters concerning community development. A prominent example is the Indian gram sabha, or village...

This paper brings together sociological theories of culture and gender to answer the question – how do large-scale development interventions induce cultural change? Through three years of ethnographic work in rural Bihar, the authors examine this question in the context of Jeevika, a World...

The practice of safe sex by commercial sex workers is considered central to preventing the transmission of AIDS in developing countries. The authors estimate the compensating differential for condom use among sex workers in Calcutta, based on results from a survey conducted in 1993. If, as...

The authors examine how domestic violence may be used as a bargaining instrument, to extract larger dowries from a spouse's family. The phrase "dowry violence" refers not to the paid at the time of the wedding, but to additional payments demanded by the groom's family after the marriage. The...

Programs that induce citizen participation to improve the quality of government at the local level are the subjects of large amounts of funding and intense debate. This paper combines a randomized control trial of a citizenship training and facilitation program in rural India, with an in-depth,...

The author examines the paradox of very poor households, spending large sums on celebrations. Using qualitative, and quantitative data from South India, the author demonstrates that spending on weddings, and festivals can be explained by integrating an anthropological understanding of how...

The authors develop an evaluation method that combines qualitative evidence with quantitative survey data analyzed with propensity score methods on matched samples to study the impact of a participatory community-driven social fund on preference targeting, collective action, and community...

The consensus among scholars and policymakers that 'institutions matter' for development has led inexorably to a conclusion that 'history matters' since institutions clearly form and evolve over time. Unfortunately, however, the next logical step has not yet been taken, which is to recognise...

Malaysia has focused on civil service reforms to improve the efficiency of public service delivery. This Research and Policy Brief argues that this method needs to be supplemented with an approach that makes officials more directly accountable to citizens. Improving governance by engaging...