Building Local Democracy: Evaluating the Impact of Decentralization in Kerala, India

摘要: Summary. — Historically, local rural governments in India have enjoyed very limited powers and citizens been afforded few opportunities to shape development. In 1996, the state government of Kerala initiated ‘‘People’s Campaign for Decentralized Planning’’ devolving new authority resources panchayats mandating structures processes designed maximize direct involvement planning budgeting. both its scope design, these reforms represent most ambitious effort build institutions participatory democratic governance ever undertaken subcontinent. This paper provides a detailed evaluation analysis formative period based on extensive survey data collected 2002 from sample 72 randomly selected panchayats. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.