Indo-French Perspectives on Local Government and Democracy

Indo-French Perspectives on Local Government and Democracy

By- Lucy Baugnet and Girish Kumar (eds.)

Can practices of local level democracy in France and India as fostered by their local governments be compared? If contextualized in terms of their respective geographical expanse intertwined with their political history, levels of economic development, demographic attributes and cultural moorings, comparison would, at best be shallow. But juxtapose them in the context of their contemporary political developments and a viable common ground would appear, rendering their seemingly divergent features irrelevant. After all, starting from the inauguration of the Fifth Republic in France in 1958 and Independent India declaring itself a ‘Republic’ in 1950, both countries embarked on their post-war journey as highly centralized States.

Following several abortive or partially successful reform measures adopted in the next four decades, they eventually took bold strides in the 1990s, ushering profound changes in their respective governing structures and other areas, including creating space for political representation of women and marginalized sections. Going beyond their earlier tryst with the halting pace of multi-level decentralization, these moves were somewhat influenced by the decentralization wave that swept the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Set against this backdrop, the purpose of this volume, the first of its kind, is to sensitize readers with the nuances of democratic decentralization, viewed from both the angles of demand and supply in India as well as France.

Lucy Baugnet is Full Professor in Social Psychology and Counsellor for International Relations at the University of Picardy Jules Verne.

Girish Kumar is Senior Fellow, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.

ISBN  978-81-7304-916-3    2011   322p.   Rs.800/ Pounds 50

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