Abstract
In this chapter, Santosh Mehrotra considers the linkages between decentralization and capability expansion. He begins by arguing that there are theoretical reasons why the decentralization of governance and delivery of basic services will improve human capabilities. To illustrate this process, he advocates three extensions to Sen’s capability approach which stress interdependence between simple and complex functionings, the exercise of collective forms of action, and the importance of local—as well as national—forms of participation. Mehrotra then turns to empirical evidence by considering the historical record of OECD countries and China. The evidence shows that where central government acts to enable the articulation of voice by the local community, functionaries of the state tend to respond positively to such pressure. It follows that successful decentralization can be modelled in terms of a three-way dynamic between the state, the local authority, and civil society, which ensures effective service delivery and thus improves human development. Mehrotra argues that in the case of India, government remains highly centralized, and the model of decentralization that has worked elsewhere has been ignored. The result is that the enormous challenges to human welfare are compounded by this centralized system of government.
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Notes
- 1.
The most rapid spread of decentralization happened in Latin America, with 13,000 new municipalities being created over the 1990s. Similarly, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines saw new efforts at reviving local governments, as did China (as we discuss at length in this chapter). Sub-Saharan Africa also saw a sudden and rapid spread of local governments, mainly under the influence of the World Bank, which was encouraging governments to not only downsize but especially reduce the size of the central government.
- 2.
- 3.
The relationship holds in the opposite direction as well; that is, with the functionings of literacy and good health, individuals tend to become more effective ‘participants’ in society. That, however, is not the subject of this chapter.
- 4.
After the Russian Revolution (1917) and the Chinese Revolution (1949), simple functionings improved for the vast majority of the peasant and working classes even in the absence of formal democracy in the Western sense. However, two points are fundamental here. First, even though formal democracy did not exist in either the Soviet Union or China, the voice of the poor was being articulated by the Bolsheviks (in whatever distorted form after the first decade) and by the Chinese Communist Party. Second, in the twenty-first century, with the collapse of central planning and ‘democratic centralism’ of the Soviet variety, the way forward for articulating the voices of the poor has to be different from the Russian/Chinese authoritarian method. It has to be through deep democracy, which goes beyond multiparty elections in a Western democratic sense.
- 5.
For instance, it is unlikely that under a military regime (e.g. Pakistan 1999–2002) democratic decentralization is going to make much headway, even though efforts at devolution (in Pakistan the efforts have been similar to those in India in the 1990s) are made.
- 6.
- 7.
For instance, Brandolini and D’Alessio (1998) use components like education and skills (with their typical indicator years of education, level of education reached), health and access to health care (indicator: contacts with doctors and nurses), and so on. These indicators are used in the Swedish Level of Living Surveys. More recently, Anand et al. (2009) have developed an abstract set of capability indicators. Also, the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission has developed an Equality Measurement Framework based on the capability approach (see Alkire et al., 2009). Others have allowed for vagueness in identifying relevant dimensions and/or thresholds for evaluating capabilities (e.g. Chiappero-Martinetti, 2000; Clark & Qizilbash, 2008).
- 8.
For a detailed discussion of these synergies within basic services, and the synergies between basic services, income, poverty reduction, and economic growth, see Mehrotra and Delamonica (2007).
- 9.
In addition to Solava Ibrahim’s work on collective capabilities (Ibrahim, 2006), there is also Frances Stewart and Séverine Deneulin’s (2002) work on group capabilities. Also, Dubois and Trani (2009) recall the notions of social (group) capabilities, community capabilities and collective capabilities.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
India’s 2001 and 2011 census results are available online at http://censusindia.gov.in/
- 13.
The projected level of expectation of life at birth in India for 2011–2015, according to a Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections (May 2006) for the National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is 67.3 years for males and 69.6 years for females (see TGPP, 2006). The data is also available online at http://planningcommission.gov.in/data/datatable/data_2110/table_206.pdf
- 14.
Overcentralized states like the former Soviet Union imploded at the end of the 1980s into their constituent 15 republics under the weight of their constituents.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks Deboshree Ghosh for the excellent research assistance and the editors for very useful comments and suggestions. The usual disclaimers apply.
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Mehrotra, S. (2019). Capability Development and Decentralization. In: Clark, D.A., Biggeri, M., Frediani, A.A. (eds) The Capability Approach, Empowerment and Participation. Rethinking International Development series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-35230-9_14
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