The Accommodation of Democracy: A New Political Economy of Poverty Alleviation in Rural India

In The Accommodation of Democracy, Thibaud Marcesse investigates the implementation of a large poverty alleviation program, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme or NREGS, in Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s poorest and most populated states. The product of legislation passed by India’s parliament in 2005, NREGS is unique in that it creates an employment guarantee for all rural citizens to 100 days of work at a statutory wage rate. It is also the embodiment of a push to democratize local government in India and to empower citizens to make claims on the state. But, as the author argues, the implementation of NREGS has varied significantly, both among Indian states, and at the local level within the different Indian states.

Through the use of various data sources, along with qualitative insights from a rural district of Uttar Pradesh, Marcesse develops his theory of democratic accommodation, where the claims made by citizens are not only shaped by levels of economic and status-based inequality, but also by the intervention of local elected officials and bureaucrats. A sobering account of actual democratic practice in the world’s largest democracy, The Accommodation of Democracy highlights that while local level democratization has considerably expanded the scope of political participation at the local level in India, it has yet to translate into a meaningful democratic deepening among its rural communities.

Thibaud Marcesse is an Assistant Professor of Comparative and South Asian Politics at Boston College. His main research interests lie in the political economy of development, political institutions such as parties and party systems, and local level democratization. Prior to joining Boston College, he was a lecturer at Kings’ College in London. Before starting a career in academia, he worked for various organizations such the United Nations Children’s Fund, the National Democratic Institute and Chemonics International on different projects ranging from civic education in Nepal and support to transitions in both Nepal and Haiti. His research has appeared in World Development.