49
Notes
1
A widely cited statistic by Dillinger (1994) indicates that of 75 developing and transitional countries with
population in excess of five million, all but 12 were engaged in the early 1990s with decentralizing
administrative authority to units of local government. This movement toward devolution has acquired
additional momentum since then, and donor agencies have often made it a condition for providing
additional assistance (Blair 2000).
2
See, for example, see Chambers (1999); Esman and Uphoff (1984); Korten (1990); UNDP (2000); and
World Bank (2001).
3
See, for example, Cheema and Rondinelli (1983); Cohen and Peterson (996); Musgrave (1959); Smith
(1996); and Weingast (1995).
4
In this context, see Abrahams and Platteau (2000); Agrawal and Ribot (1999), and Firmin-Sellers (2001).
5
Some observers are hopeful that decentralization could help enhance equity. Jorgensen and van Domelen
(2001:104) lay faith in their hope that “Vulnerable communities will be better served…by public
interventions that are executed in a decentralized fashion”. Most other observers are more cautious,
however, while assessing the equity effects of decentralized local governance: Decentralization can
“reinforce local elites or self-serving leadership” (Esman and Uphoff 1984: 31). “Local government…may
be no more responsive to the needs of the poor – and even less responsive if controlled by a local elite”
(UNDP 1998: 56).
6
Gram panchayats (village councils), which constitute the lowest level in this three-tier system, cover
between one and five villages depending on population size. Average village population in our sample of
53 villages is 1,556, and there are, on average, three villages per gram panchayat, so approximately 5,000
persons are served by each gram panchayat. The next higher level, the Janpad or Block Panchayat, is
constituted at the sub-district level, corresponding to between 40 and 45 gram panchayats, on average. The
highest level is the Zilla (or district) Panchayat. Districts in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have, on
average, nearly 1,200 villages. Our analysis here is concerned only with the lowest, cutting-edge level, the
gram panchayat, to which we refer in the following pages simply as panchayats, following the usage
popular among villagers of these areas.
Convention