Publication: Deliberative Democracy in India
Date
2017-03
ISSN
Published
2017-03
Author(s)
Abstract
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 deliberation in the pre-colonial
and colonial periods, emphasizing the ways in which
religious traditions fostered a culture of debate and
dialogue. The paper then explores the interplay between
Western liberal philosophers, most notably Henry Maine, and
Indian political thinkers, including Gandhi and Ambedkar, on
participatory democracy in India. The discussion then
highlights the continued dialogue between Indian and Western
ideas in the push for greater participatory development.
Finally, the paper probes the current incarnation of
state-sponsored deliberation in India -- namely, village
assemblies known as gram sabhas under the constitutionally
mandated system of Indian village democracy or Panchayati
Raj -- and reviews the growing empirical scholarship about
these village assemblies.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Parthasarathy, Ramya; Rao, Vijayendra. 2017. Deliberative Democracy in India. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7995. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26245 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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