Oral Democracy studies citizens' voices in civic and political deliberations in India's gram sabhas (village assemblies), the largest deliberative institution in human history. It analyses nearly three hundred 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, citizens' 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 citizens' 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 'oral competence' of citizens and establishing a space in which they can articulate their interests. The authors develop the concept of 'oral democracy' to aid the unders
In this revolutionary new book, authors David Miller and Jennifer Nelles humbly offer a new way to conceptualize those common approaches: Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) that bring to
Praised for the clarity of its writing, careful research, and distinctive theme – that urban politics in the United States has evolved as a dynamic interaction between governmental power, private acto
Praised for the clarity of its writing, careful research, and distinctive theme – that urban politics in the United States has evolved as a dynamic interaction between governmental power, private acto
In this revolutionary new book, authors David Miller and Jennifer Nelles humbly offer a new way to conceptualize those common approaches: Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) that bring to
Urban Politics After Apartheid presents an understanding of gendered urban politics in South Africa as an interactive process. Based on long-term fieldwork in the former townships 20 years after the e
China’s economic and military rise dominates discussions of the world’s most populous country. Resilient authoritarian government is credited with great successes, but this book expands the discourse
Over the second half of the 20th century, American politics was reorganized around race as the tenuous New Deal coalition frayed and eventually collapsed. What drove this change? In The Cities on the
The book combines a review of scholarly sources as well as the experiences of an elected government official to examine the politics behind local government. Conflicts that take place at the local lev
In the wake of decentralization reforms, several democratizing states across the world have introduced legislation that provide for subnational elections. This does not mean, however, that subnational
This book seeks to rethink governance not as a particular state formation, but as the diverse policies emerging associated with the impact of modernist social science on policy making, considering the
This book compares local politics in two Central Anatolian cities ruled by different parties, the AKP in Konya and the CHP in Eskisehir. It analyzes how national political parties adapt to local conte
Over the past few decades and throughout the world, numerous government-initiated experiments and attempts at directly engaging and including citizens have emerged as remedies for a variety of problem
English local government is in a state of decline after forty years of incremental but cumulative centralisation by central government. This book is the first to directly address this trend's impact o
English local government is in a state of decline after forty years of incremental but cumulative centralisation by central government. This book is the first to directly address this trend's impact o
A monarch is usually born, a member of parliament or a president is usually elected, but a regional leader in China is usually orchestrated to replace his or her predecessor through an opaque process
