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Oral democracy: deliberation in Indian village assemblies

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Theories of institutional designPublication details: Cambridge University Press 2019 Cambridge Description: xi, 215 p. It includes bibliography and indexISBN:
  • 9781108714532
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 320.840954 S2O7
Summary: 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 understanding of deliberative systems in non-Western and developing countries. This title is also available as Open Access. https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/oral-democracy-deliberation-indian-village-assemblies?format=HB
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Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 13-B / Slot 481 (0 Floor, West Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 320.840954 S2O7 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 200411

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Discursive political culture
3. Political construction, state enactments, and citizen performances
4. The role of literacy in deliberative democracy
5. Conclusion: oral democracy.

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 understanding of deliberative systems in non-Western and developing countries. This title is also available as Open Access.

https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/oral-democracy-deliberation-indian-village-assemblies?format=HB

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