Oral Democracy: Deliberation in Indian Village Assemblies

This book studies citizens바카라 사이트™ voices in civic and political deliberations in India바카라 사이트™s gram sabhas (village assemblies)

Abstract

Oral Democracy studies citizens바카라 사이트™ voices in civic and political deliberations in India바카라 사이트™s gram sabhas (village assemblies), the largest deliberative institution in human history. It analyzes nearly 300 transcripts of gram sabhas, sampled within the framework of a natural experiment, allowing the authors to study how state policy affects the quality of discourse, citizens바카라 사이트™ discursive performances, and state enactments embodied by elected leaders and public officials. By drawing out the varieties of speech apparent in citizen and state interactions, their analysis shows that citizens바카라 사이트™ oral participation in development and governance can be improved by strengthening deliberative spaces through policy. Even in conditions of high inequality and illiteracy, gram sabhas can create discursive equality by developing the 바카라 사이트œoral competence바카라 사이트 of citizens and establishing a space in which they can articulate their interests. The authors develop the concept of 바카라 사이트œoral democracy바카라 사이트 to aid the understanding of deliberative systems in non-Western and developing countries.

This is an output of the World Bank바카라 사이트™s Strategic Research Program

Citation

Vijayendra Rao and Paromita Sanyal, Oral Democracy: Deliberation in Indian Village Assemblies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, December 2018

Updates to this page

Published 21 October 2020