Dissertationen zum Thema „Political participation – India“

This thesis considers the effects of women's political participation on gender dynamics in the context of the local community. A broad definition of politics is used, which has allowed the research to investigate and analyse the effects of participation in both NGO- initiated women's groups and Panchayati Raj institutions (village/local level councils). The central discussion, therefore, focuses on the extent to which these different types of participation have been or can be empowering for women as individuals and as a group. In relation to this, different conceptualisations of power and the meanings and uses of empowerment and participation are explored. Research data was collected in five villages, a peri-urban area and one town in Bikaner District, Rajasthan, India. Ethnographic data was collected which the researcher uses to stress the importance of disaggregating women not only along the lines of caste, class, religion and so forth but also according to generation and familial position, when considering their changing roles and status in society. While acknowledging that certain aspects of political participation can have empowering effects the thesis argues that political participation is not necessarily empowering for women and in some cases may have the reverse effect. The dangers of instrumentalist arguments used to encourage and initiate women's political participation are highlighted. It is argued that 'empowering' women to participate is not enough to increase their status, quality of life or life choices if disempowering processes and structures within institutions are not also challenged and overcome. The thesis makes the case that family and community members generally support increases in women's political participation so long as it is only certain women who participate in a certain manner. It also argues for the greater inclusion of men into projects aiming to challenge detrimental gender norms.

State processes and programs are often constructed and implemented with the intention to ameliorate the lives of the inhabitants living within those borders. However, in order for citizens to benefit from these programs and processes, for example, anti-poverty programs and decentralization projects, their participation is a necessity. But societal contexts in which citizen participation occurs vary to great extents. It is important then to investigate these differences so as to further our understanding of the workings of participation. This research conducts a comparative analysis between two states in India, Kerala and Bihar, of contextual factors impacting participation. It shows that both trust in the state as well as formal education affect the level of participation of the population. This research engages with and attempts to add to the literature of participatory development by analyzing and explaining some of the impact that context has on participation of inhabitants.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-99).
Using primary data from an innovative water project in Tirupur, India with findings from two well-documented water projects in Latin America, this thesis asks: How might greater equity participation and decision-making authority among a broad base of users insulate against key political risks that have beset water sector private sector participation (PSP) in the past? I utilize concepts from the political risk literature, which have mainly been applied to the extractive and manufacturing industries, and extend this consideration to the water sector. I present preliminary findings, based on field research in India, that suggest increased local participation in water sector PSPs can mitigate against key political risks that have created problems elsewhere. These early findings challenge the conventional wisdom about water privatization and suggest a means to improve the design of future PSPs to reduce some of the risks and controversy that have characterized the sector.
by Michael D. Brown.
M.C.P.

Access to basic water and sanitation services, the local public health goods, is a human right and a public health necessity. Provision of these services is typically devolved to Local Governments to ensure they correspond to the local needs. In rural India, such a correspondence is sub-optimal, with high local needs and poor provision by the Local Governments (Panchayats). The citizen participation in Panchayat's public deliberative meetings (Grama Sabha) is weak. The community context is characterised by social fragmentation and high socio-economic inequality. This research examined, whether and how better deliberative participation in Panchayat meetings was associated with better provision of these services by the Panchayats. The research used a three-staged systematic sampling method. Using correlational field survey design it gathered primary data from 99 panchayats in Karnataka State, and from 99 villages and 396 individuals within these Panchayats. Factor analytic and multivariate regression techniques were used to analyse the data in the statistical software, Stata® v.13. Results suggest, better Grama Sabha meetings (that were convened more frequently, attended by a higher number of people with better representativeness, where discussions approximate to the deliberative norms: reciprocal, pro-social and accountable; and decisions taken have a common good orientation) were associated with better provision of water and sanitation services by the Panchayat. Further analysis suggested two possible explanations for this association: First, the individuals who participated more frequently in deliberative meetings of the Panchayat and where discussions approximated to the deliberative norms; were associated with: • Better information on availability and accessibility to services; • Better external political efficacy, a perception of greater responsiveness of the Panchayat to their needs and their efforts to influence it; and hence engage evenly in discussions; • Better sense of community, a greater willingness to cooperate and coordinate, to find mutual needs and seek convergence when they are heterogeneous. Above findings suggest, in a participatory setting, these individuals can be associated with better capability to collectively engage; to articulate, communicate and identify the mostii common of their service needs and frame it as a collective demand, through policy objective, for provision by the Panchayats. Second, better Grama Sabha meetings were associated with better rule of law in policy administration at the Panchayat level. This suggests, rule-bound conversion of policy objectives into actual service outputs; a reflection of responsiveness and accountability of the bureaucratic action in achieving administrative commitment to the legislative goals. In conclusion, better deliberative participation can be associated with better capability of the individuals to engage in collective action. This can improve the correspondence between the needs and the provision; by strengthening individuals' collective demand for the services and by improving the responsiveness of the Panchayat in the supply of these services.

This thesis investigates the factors that affect women's bargaining power within the household, in India. The first chapter introduces the literature on household bargaining mostly by describing how household outcomes like children's health indicators and expenditure pattern change with increase in resources under women's control. The second chapter describes the conceptual framework for intra-household bargaining. It discusses the two broad topics – household bargaining models and gendered institutions, that can be used to identify avenues for increasing women's bargaining power within the household. In chapters three and four, I analyze the factors that determine women's power position, using data on women's involvement in household decision making from a nationally representative longitudinal household survey (India Human Development Survey). The survey was conducted in over 40,000 Indian households, which covers over 200,000 individuals. In the third chapter, I investigate the effect of women's labor force participation on her involvement in household decision making. After addressing the issues of endogeneity using a fixed effects model, I find that her labor market participation significantly increases her involvement in decision making process, which can be seen as a direct outcome of her increased bargaining power. In my fourth chapter I analyze whether the women's bargaining power within the household increases with the presence of female politicians at both state and local level. Studying the causal impact of a variable like female political representation is generally riddled with concerns of endogeneity for existence of voter preference. Using share of seats won by women in man-woman close elections as an instrument for overall female representation in in a fixed effect model, I show that an increase in number of female state legislators can actually lead to an increase in the bargaining power of women. This chapter further shows that increase in women's involvement in decision making process in the household is also associated with the female political representation at local level. The fifth chapter concludes the dissertation by making policy recommendation for strengthening women's bargaining position within the household.
Ph. D.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-155). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

For the past 30 years the dominant approach to managing rural water services in low and lower middle income countries has been the community management approach. Yet there is increasing evidence the model is not fit for purpose as too many services fail. The next generation ideas for community management emphasise the need for continuous on-going support to communities – an approach known as the community management plus approach. This thesis tests and develops this next generation community management plus paradigm. It analyses field data from twenty case studies of ‘reportedly successful’ community management programmes across seventeen states in India. Bringing together data from 2,355 household surveys, 272 interviews and 130 focus groups it provides a synthesis that assesses the type and level of support found in successful examples of community management. The evidence from these case studies demonstrates that communities receive significant recurrent subsidy covering between 7-48% of operational expenditure. This is in marked contrast to the conventional principles of community management whereby communities cover 100% of these costs. Analysis of organisation types also shows how community management has been shaped by the devolution of governance in rural India. Many community management programmes involve a structural overlap between the local self- government institution of the Gram Panchayat and water committees. The thesis argues this represents a shift to the ‘institutionalised co-production’ of rural water services, involving both the state and private citizens in public service delivery. Overall, the research shows that successful community management in India involves continuous on-going support as per the community management plus paradigm. However this has required the nesting of the model within the broader system of local self-government which blurs the lines between public and community management.

This paper uses state-level variation in the implementation of the 73rd amendment in India to observe the relationship between political reservations for women in local government and female child mortality. Nationally, reservations for women are not associated with a statistically significant difference in female child mortality. However, a state by state analysis shows variations in the level of impact of reservations on the topic of female child mortality. This paper examines the constraints on female representatives and their level of effectiveness in executing pro-female policies given the political and social environment. The two case studies on Kerala and Haryana explore women office holder’s abilities to administer public goods that favor women and children and the subsequent impact on female child mortality.

The thesis investigates the processes of the formation and functioning of Water Users Associations (WUAs) which have been implemented under the policy of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in Maharashtra, Western India. The thesis explores (1) how social and economic hierarchies shape the process of participation in WUAs; (2) the roles played by the State and Non-Governmental Organisations in the process of participatory development; (3) the ways in which processes of neo-liberalisation have influenced water reforms in a developing country like India. The study draws on different critiques of neo-liberalism, and it explores theories of participation to provide a holistic understanding of PIM (Participatory Irrigation Management) reforms carried out in Maharashtra. The study uses a qualitative approach, based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out over twelve months at two Water Users Associations in a village in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. The study finds that processes of participation are complex, and characterized by the vested interests of the different actors involved in the process of the formation and functioning of WUAs in the village. The WUAs have been able to provide water to many farmers in the area. However, the policy has been unable to achieve much success in terms of resolving conflicts among farmers and enhancing the participation of small landholding and marginalized farmers in the WUAs. I found that the process of neo-liberalisation does not challenge or reform traditional institutions such as caste and gender, but rather that it uses them to entrench market reforms. The implementation of WUAs' policy in the wider neo-liberal context has increased the powers of the State and NGO intervention in the formulation and implementation of WUAs policy. Processes of WUAs' formation and functioning are significant examples of the ways in which neo-liberalisation is taking shape in India, including the commodification of water, and thereby, the reproduction of existing hierarchies and power imbalances. The study contributes towards developing an understanding of the wider processes of neo-liberal governance in the water sector.

La recherche sociale présentée se focalise sur la participation et la représentation politique indienne à l'intérieur d'un district électoral. Le district électoral 04, siégé à Zacapoaxtla à la Sierra Norte de Puebla, est habité par des populations nahuas et totonaques. Le regard anthropologique nous rend les outils qualitatifs pour analyser le rapport entre l’État et les groupes indiennes de la région comprenant les échelles inframunicipale, municipale et du district. Il s'agit d'une étude de cas qui permet de comprendre la complexité du vote dans un contexte rural afin de dévoiler les phénomènes de multipartisme et alternance politique
The research is focus on the participation and representation of indigenous people in a federal electoral district recently developed (2005) within electoral processes. The 04 federal electoral district based in Zacapoaxtla is located in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, inhabited by nahuas and totonacs groups. The anthropological point of view offers qualitative instruments for the understanding of the interaction between the State and the indigenous people through different analysis scales: infra-municipal, municipality and district. It is a case study that allows the understanding of the complexity of the vote in rural areas, with the purpose of comprehending the phenomenon of pluralist political arena and political alternation
La investigación se enfoca en la participación y representación política indígena en un distrito electoral federal de nueva creación (2005) en el contexto de los procesos electorales. El distrito electoral 04 con cabecera en Zacapoaxtla se ubica en la Sierra Norte de Puebla, habitado por grupos nahuas y totonacos. La mirada antropológica ofrece las herramientas cualitativas para el análisis de la relación del Estado con los grupos indígenas a través de distintas escalas como: inframunicipal, municipal y distrital. Es un estudio de caso que permite entender la complejidad del voto en un contexto rural, con la intención de comprender los fenómenos de multipartidismo y alternancia política

O presente estudo baseia-se na vivência do pesquisador como membro participante de assembléias realizadas e organizadas pelos índios Ingarikó, em 2005, em Roraima, especificamente na Terra Indígena Raposa Serra do Sol. Essas assembléias visavam discutir as alternativas de gestão do território ocupado pelo grupo Ingarikó, em função da dupla afetação do mesmo como Terra Indígena e Unidade de Conservação. O pesquisador se inscreveu como membro das assembléias, a partir de um convite a ele formalizado por uma liderança Ingarikó, tendo exercido o papel de articulador da organização indígena denominada Conselho do Povo Indígena Ingarikó (Coping), recém-criada nos momentos que antecederam as assembléias. Participaram dessas assembléias, além das lideranças e de membros das comunidades Ingarikó, representantes dos órgãos governamentais envolvidos com a gestão de Terras Indígenas e de Unidades de Conservação, no âmbito local e federal, dentre os quais assumem relevância no presente estudo a Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai) e, à época, o Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama). Tal condição permitiu ao pesquisador, na qualidade de observador participante das referidas assembléias, levantar e analisar informações que propiciaram o conhecimento de como se dava a ação do grupo Ingarikó no exercício da gestão política do território em questão. Essa ação indicou haver uma apropriação da categoria Parque Nacional de forma específica pelo grupo, denotando aspiração de soberania nas decisões e ações, políticas e de gestão, sobre o futuro das regras e técnicas de uso do território. Essa indicação baseou-se na observação das formas de condução das assembléias, na convivência do pesquisador no contexto do modo de vida Ingarikó e nas verbalizações ocorridas durante as assembléias e em conversas com membros da comunidade. Além disso, a observação fundamentou a percepção de que o chamamento das assembléias pelos Ingarikó, assim como o seu desenvolvimento, refletiam um aprendizado dos índios com relação aos modelos de desempenho de ações políticas exercidas pelos atores institucionais do Ibama, da Funai e de organizações indígenas, permitindo também o fortalecimento de uma identidade Ingarikó. Em síntese, a análise do desenrolar das assembléias, em sua totalidade, levou à abstração de que havia, subentendida no comportamento do grupo Ingarikó, uma vinculação entre o respeito aos direitos indígenas sobre as terras que ocupam e a conservação ambiental, conforme estabelecido nos fundamentos originais que justificaram a constituição histórica da legislação indígena do Estado brasileiro, cuja política está centralizada na categoria jurídica Terra Indígena. Paradoxalmente, foi possível constatar que essa essencial vinculação não está presente na forma como as políticas públicas indigenistas e ambientais se materializam, exigindo, de seus agentes, um esforço na busca de articulação das mesmas na ação.
The present study was based on the experience of one researcher participating in assemblies organized and conducted by the Ingariko tribe in the Indian lands known as the Raposa Serra do Sol, in the state of Roraima, Brazil. These assemblies, held in 2005, were aimed at discussing alternative forms of managing the territory occupied by the Ingariko tribe, a territory that, in addition to having been officially set aside for use by indigenous peoples, has been designated an environmentally protected area (Mount Roraima National Park). The researcher was formally invited to participate in the assemblies by one of the leaders of the Ingariko tribe. The invitation came as a result of the coordinating role played by the researcher in the organization known as the Ingariko Indigenous Peoples Council, which was created in the weeks leading up to the assemblies. In addition to the leaders and members of the Ingariko villages, representatives of governmental agencies involved in the management of Indian lands and environmentally protected areas were in attendance. Among such agencies were the Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai, National Indian Foundation) and the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama, Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). During these assemblies, the researcher, in the role of participating observer, was able to raise questions and analyze information regarding the activism of the Ingariko tribe in influencing the political management of the disputed territory. The researcher noted that the intervention by members of the tribe resulted in their appropriation of the classification \'National Park\' in a form specific to the tribe, denoting an aspiration to have sovereignty in making decisions and plans, in terms of policies and management, regarding the future use of the territory. This conclusion was reached based on the manner in which the assemblies were conducted and on the personal experience of the researcher, who was familiar with the Ingariko way of life, as well as on statements made during the assemblies and in conversations with members of the community. In addition, the fact that the Ingariko called for and organized these assemblies indicates their political maturation in relation to models of political activities sanctioned by the institutional actors (Ibama, Funai and other organizations involved in indigenous issues), as well as the strengthening of the Ingariko cultural identity. In summary, the analysis of the way in which the assemblies proceeded, overall, and of the behavior of the Ingariko tribe, led to the abstraction that respect for Indian land rights and environmental conservation are inextricably linked. This link has its foundation in the constitutional and legislative history of Brazil in relation to Indian rights and issues affecting indigenous peoples, the central focus of which, in legal terms, is Indian lands. Paradoxically, it became apparent that this essential link is not taken into consideration during the formation of public policies related to indigenous and environmental issues. Therefore, public officials must consciously attempt to incorporate this idea into their interpretation and implementation of such policies.

Internet-based new media—social media platforms in particular—have profoundly altered the boundaries and contours of civic and political life by offering new opportunities for participation and challenge, as well as new perils of communal competition, surveillance, counter-influence and disruption. Additionally, new media technologies have shown unprecedented capabilities for political communication to cross national boundaries. This project considers the complex factors that impact participation by members of a diaspora in the politics of the homeland—in this case Indian immigrants in the United States. A combined approach of historical inquiry and applied survey research attempts to disaggregate the influence of the digital media ecosystem (social networking platforms in particular), as well as core dynamics of personal identity and the dislocation associated with geographic migration. The tested hypotheses examine whether respondents are more or less likely to consider future political participation based on indexed independent variables related to identity, geographic migration and social media platform usage. Additionally, respondents’ sensitivity to exposure to certain types of news information is also considered through an experiment using hypothetical news stories that vary in content, geography and actor identity. These approaches reflect on the existing scholarship, but more importantly, builds new lines of questioning that span across previously disconnected streams of research, offering a more holistic appraisal that more accurately reflects the large, complex, varied mediascape in which migrants see, share and respond to many different forms of online information, communication and interactivity. Online recruitment of resident Indian and Non-Resident Indian (NRI) survey respondents provided two population samples that allows for comparative examination prior and subsequent to the event of migration. The survey questions themselves encompassed of a broad range of questions addressing socioeconomic status, prior civic activity, social media usage, perceptions about political institutions and expectations of future participation in the form of voting. The implications for this research may yield insights into the shape of possible future transnational phenomena, most notably the prospect of absentee voting in the near future. The specific questions and influences on diasporic participation are considered in this context, and recommendations for follow-up research are provided.

Access to abstract restricted until 05/2015.
Literature review -- The politics of urban reformation : public interest litigation and heritage -- A market for corruption : rumor and the arts of resistance.
Access to thesis restricted until 05/2015.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1999.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).