·          The study of some select institutions and delivery mechanisms (for instance, related to education, knowledge, public health, water and electricity supply, inputs supply for small producers) in order to assess the impact of the shift from the dynamics of a welfare state to that of a state oriented towards market-driven growth on ways of governing;

·          The study of the impact of some of the Acts and governmental measures for acceleration of development (such as the Land Acquisition Act or the Special Economic Zones) on the concept of democratic equality and citizenship;

·          An investigation of the process of securitisation of the conditions of development, resulting in making logistical considerations as the dominant priority for the government, with several other social considerations now turning into minor matters, and related population groups as minor peoples;

·          The study of certain policy formulation processes and exercises (such as, R&R Policy, Right to Information, NREGA, Forest Bill – all of which reflect the new ways of government-people interface) in the context of the policy explosion in India in the last decade (1997-2007) as a feature of modern developmental governance;

·          Study of the Administrative Commission Reports reflecting the continuity/shift in the institutional grid of developmental democracy;

·          An analysis of select popular responses reflecting new forms of claim makings sparked off by developmental processes posing new issues for developmental governance; this analysis will also reflect on the ways in which different popular organisations are emerging today to negotiate the changing relation between the government and the people; and the ways in which these organisations are breaking the old distinction between the civil society and politics;

·          Similarly an analysis of select cases of political parties articulating ideas of developmental governance particularly in their electoral manifestos, which would show another channel of inputs in the policy formulation process;

·          Investigation into the dynamics and the impact of the new digital culture (primarily e-governance and the new electronic media) on developmental democracy characterised by digital divide;

·          Finally, an inquiry into cases that reflect on how the new emphasis in legal and governmental discourses from rights and entitlements to growth, prosperity, security, and national prestige is impacting on federal structure, constitutional forms of accommodation and autonomy, and spatial distribution of developmental structures. 

2.11 These inquiries are inter-related and the concerns overlap. The various segments of the programme will be built around these questions and concerns.    

3.  Proposed Activities and Organisation of the Program 

3.1 The project proposes to have three components –  

·          Research

·          Organisation of dialogues, conference, workshops, public forums, and public lectures (these are mainly in the nature of outreach and dissemination activities, though they combine input gathering purpose as well)

·          Organisation of web based material for wider circulation, interaction, and web-based and print publications (these will be mainly dissemination activities)

Research Segment 

3.2 The research segment will cover the nine major concerns listed above and will consist of specific and focused ten to twelve (10-12) research monographs/papers.   

3.3 The research segment will build primarily around case studies among which five or six institutions will form the core of the subject of study. The case studies will involve field work, analysis of governmental material, extensive interviews, studies of select cases of policy formulation, study of institutions of representation at select levels, reforms of welfare administration, development, and information, and finally select studies of popular responses. The actual cases (including topics of institutional studies) will be decided in the first research workshop based on abstracts to be discussed there.