This book provides fresh perspectives
and insights on what may be the world’s largest ongoing decentralisation
reforms—the Panchayat Raj reforms in India—and presents unique
empirical material from Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Comparative perspectives
and references to historical cases from around the world are used to
show how decentralisation can be connected to social capital and corruption.
In particular, this book shows how certain forms of social capital,
previously thought to be a hindrance to development, can work in favour
of democracy.
Widmalm
argues that there exists a strong and direct connection between degrees
of corruption in village performance and the level of trust in society,
even though only an ambiguous link can be said to exist between decentralisation
and corruption. However, the kind of trust most strongly related to
performance is not the kind we would expect from a reading of development
literature or from the policies of certain aid agencies. This book shows
that the relationship between decentralisation, corruption and social
capital can be well understood if illuminated through the prism of collective
action theory. Further, it dwells upon the consequences of these research
results for aid policies.
Decentralisation,
Corruption and Social Capital: From India to the West would be invaluable
to aid agencies and development-oriented organisations, as well as students
and researchers working in the areas of development, governance, decentralisation,
federalism, social capital and civil society.
About
the Author
Sten Widmalm is Associate Professor and
the Director of the master's programme in Development Studies at the
Department of Government at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has worked
and written extensively on politics in South Asia.
Contents
Introduction
/ What do we Mean by Decentralisation? A Historical And Conceptual Overview
of Federalism's Closest Cousin / Decentralisation in India: In Theory
and Practice / Corruption and its Causes / Corruption In India / The
Utility of Bonding Trust and a New Look at the Role of Social Capital
in Development / Dicussion: How Decentralisation, Corruption and Civil
Society Connect / Index
