Co-creating forevers : stories of multi-level governance for implementation of rural development projects in India

Abstract

In my thesis, I study systems of governance, and actors, involved in the implementation of social audits and digitized wage payments in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Andhra and Telangana, India. Theoretically, I begin by looking at Stoker's propositions of the characteristics of a governance system, Ostrom's idea of a socio-ecological system, within which governance actors perform, and Marks and Hooghe's comments on multi-level governance. I then use the prism of Tendler's and Grindle's work to lay out positive and negative repercussions of the current literature on governance systems, especially for developing countries, and why we must build the body of research on case-specific successes. My findings suggest that there seem to have been three possible influencers: political background, a strong and committed bureaucracy at the state level, and prior history of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and grassroots work. Probing further, deeper motivations and reasons emerge for the behavior of bureaucrats and implementers, organized civil society, and political actors. These instances seem to argue for an ideal case where having strategic ties with multiple actors can help implementers be more effective and proactive even in adverse and unfavorable implementation environments. Actors performed well in flexible environments, but with clear roles and accountability structures.