Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India

ISBN-13: 9781009258012 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 350 str.

Akshay (University of Oxford) Mangla

Opis

This book examines when and how public bureaucracies work for disadvantaged citizens through a comparative study of primary education in rural India.

Recenzje

'Social norms are the glue and grease of every organization, from families and communities to corporations and governments. Yet the origins, durability and effects of social norms are remarkably understudied. In this path-breaking book, Akshay Mangla documents the decisive role that implementation systems characterized by legalistic and deliberative social norms play in shaping the wide variation in learning outcomes across primary schools in north India. Mangla takes us on an engaging and instructive journey across different interacting layers of carefully matched locations to tease out where, how and when social norms create or shrink space for problem-solving and innovation. The implications of his findings are of first-order importance not only for Indian policymakers seeking to enhance learning outcomes for millions of students, but for all those forging new ways to build state capability for policy implementation.' Michael Woolcock, World Bank and Harvard University, Co-author of Building State Capability

Spis treści

Part I. Introduction, Puzzles and Theory: 1. Introduction: bureaucracy and the politics of implementing primary education; 2. Bureaucratic norms: a theory of implementation; 3. The state and primary education in India; Part II. Implementing Primary Education in Northern India: 4. How legalistic bureaucracy generates uneven implementation; 5. How deliberative bureaucracy facilitates adaptive implementation; 6. Norm persistence: exit, voice and bureaucratic inertia; 7. Norm change: conflict and commitment on the front lines of reform; Part III. Comparative Extensions and Implications: 8. The argument in comparative perspective; 9. Conclusion: reimagining bureaucracy for inclusive development; Appendix: researching bureaucracy and frontline public services.