Public Sector Reform, Citizen Engagement, and Development Results in India : Lessons and Frontiers
There is a global consensus that governance and some form of citizen engagement matter for making development more effective, equitable, and sustainable. Yet the devil lies in the details: there is limited agreement on what forms of governance matt...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/534171505972670075/Public-sector-reform-citizen-engagement-and-development-results-in-India-lessons-and-frontiers http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28486 |
| Summary: | There is a global consensus that
governance and some form of citizen engagement matter for
making development more effective, equitable, and
sustainable. Yet the devil lies in the details: there is
limited agreement on what forms of governance matter most
for achieving developmentresults; and there are major gaps
in our understanding of how and why different strategies of
citizen engagement are successful. Drawing on evidence from
India and internationally, this report seeks to move this
debate forward. India’s progress in development has been
impressive, although it faces several challenges. Its
progress, and ongoing challenges, are explained in part by
governance dynamics. Moreover, India has been a pioneer in
innovative approaches to public sector reform and citizen
engagement, ranging from the right to information movement
to the widespread implementation of social audits. There are
at least three important knowledge gaps in the Indian
context. First, the knowledge base is fragmented and patchy,
particularly regarding the types of results that citizen
engagement might help achieve. Second, our understanding of
why certain citizen engagement approaches work and others do
not remain partial. Finally, there is room for a deeper
debate on the policy and practical lessons that have emerged
from India’s rich experience. This report begins addressing
these knowledge gaps through a systematic review of
available evidence. It analyses 68 well-documented cases of
citizen engagement in India, focusing on a subset of citizen
engagement initiatives that aim to increase public
accountability for development results. In so doing, the
report addresses three core questions: what types of results
did citizen engagement initiatives contribute to in India?
What factors affected whether citizen engagement initiatives
in India had an impact and how? And what lessons can be
learned from these findings? Given the patchiness of the
data, the report does not claim to provide comprehensive or
conclusive findings. However, it does identify a range of
important trends that could be the focus of further research
and policy debate. |
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