Decentralisation and the Strengthening of the State: A Case Study of the Province of Bihar

Authors

  • Abinash Kumar Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Rajendra Memorial Women’s College (Magadh University) Bihar

Keywords:

Election, Management, PRIs, State, Substantive, Decentralisation, Voter's education

Abstract

This paper seeks to study a case of Panchayati Raj Institutions of the province of Bihar in general and Nawada district of Bihar in particular. The qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to study it. This paper delineates the dynamics of decentralisation and the shortcomings of the functioning of Panchayats in the province of Bihar, and it further argues that democratic and substantive decentralisation can really strengthen the institution of state. A state consists of people. If we empower the people by giving easy access to services at the local level by decentralising the power of the state, which is by and large populous and larger in geographical size, accompanied with proper election management and voters’ education for a free and fair election, the state will in turn get stronger.

References

Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton University Press.

Aiyar, Y. (2006). Decentralisation and democracy [Review of Local democracy in India: Interpreting decentralization, by G. Kumar]. Economic and Political Weekly, 41(47), 4873–4875. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418946

Bharti, I. (1989). Decay of gram panchayats in Bihar. Economic and Political Weekly, 24(1), 18–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4394212

Dubey, M. (2007). Road map of a common school system in Bihar. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(29), 2999–3005. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4419807

Goswami, S. (2015). Introduction. In Troubled diversity: The political process in Northeast India (pp. xiv). Oxford University Press.

Sarma, M. (2013). Gram sabha: The artifice of rural development: A glimpse of Kamrup district, Assam. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 74(3), 413–422. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24701052

Wouters, J. P. (2018). In the shadows of Naga insurgency: Tribes, state and violence in Northeast India. Oxford University Press.

Downloads

Published

2024-09-15

How to Cite

Kumar, A. (2024). Decentralisation and the Strengthening of the State: A Case Study of the Province of Bihar. Synergy: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 1(2), 22–28. Retrieved from https://sijmds.com/index.php/pub/article/view/17

Issue

Section

Articles

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.