Grounding the State: Devolution and Development in India's Panchayats

Decentralisation is commonly defended on the grounds that it will bring government closer to people, thereby creating political structures that are more transparent and accountable to poor and marginal groups in society. However, a problem that is well recognised in the decentralisation literature is that the devolution of power will not necessarily improve the performance and accountability of local government. Indeed, in many cases, decentralisation simply empowers local elites to capture a larger share of public resources, often at the expense of the poor. Reflecting on these relatively long-standing problems, an important strand of scholarship has argued that central government can play a central role in counterbalancing the forces that tend to disfavour the poor. In this article, we aim to inform this scholarship by reflecting on the interface between local government and local people in two Indian States: Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP). Drawing upon 12 months of primary research, we argue that although the government of AP did not devolve power to the extent that proponents of decentralisation would have liked, its populist approach to certain forms of poverty reduction empowered the poor in ways that the more ambitious decentralisation agenda in MP did not. This, we argue, was due in part to the fact that MP's decentralisation process failed to challenge the well-entrenched power of the village chiefs, the sarpanches. But the discrepancy can also be explained in terms of the historical evolution of ‘development populism’ in AP. In particular, we argue that the strong performance of programmes aimed at subsidising rice for low income households and providing credit to women's ‘self-help groups’ (SHGs) was part of the State government's wider political strategy of enhancing and maintaining electoral support among women, scheduled castes and the poor.     

Reply

Appropriate Technologies for Third World Development: Proceedings of a Conference held by the International Economic Association at Teheran, Iran. Edited by Austin Robinson, London: Macmillan, 1979. pp. xix + 417. £20.

Appropriate Technology: Technology with a Human Face. By P. D. Dunn. London: Macmillan, 1978. pp. xi+ 220. £6.95.

Small Enterprises in Developing Countries: Case Studies and Conclusions. By Malcolm Harper with Tan Thiam Soon. London: Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 1979. pp. xi+ 115. £2.95.

Economics and the Design of Small Farmer Technology. Edited by A. Valdes, G. M. Scobie and J. L. Dillon. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1979.

Economic Development: Empirical Investigations. By Pan A. Yotopoulos and Jeffrey B. Nugent. New York: Harper and Row, 1976. pp. 478.

Socialist Planning. By Michael Ellman. Cambridge University Press, 1979. pp. 300. Hardback £15, paperback £4.95.

Monetary Policy and the Open Economy: Mexico's Experience. By D. Sykes Wilford. New York: Praeger, 1977.

South Asia's Exports to the EEC — Obstacles and Opportunities. By V. Cable and A. Weston. London: Overseas Development Institute, 1979. pp. vii+ 179, £5.00

The Growth of East African Exports and their Effect on Economic Development. By Leslie Stein. London: Croom Helm, 1979. pp. 272. £11.95.

Peru 1890–1977; Growth and Policy in an Open Economy. By Rosemary Thorp and Geoffrey Bertram. London: Macmillan, 1978. pp. xv + 475. £15.

Colonialism and Underdevelopment in Ghana. By Rhoda Howard. London: Croom Helm, 1978. pp. 244, £8.95.

Peruvian Nationalism: A Corporatist Revolution. Edited by David Chaplin. New Brunswick, N. J.: Transaction Books, 1976. pp. 494. £5.

An Economic History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. By Laura Randall. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. pp. 322. $21.90.

The Origins of English Individualism: The Family, Property and Social Transition. By Alan Macfarlane, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978. pp. xv+216. £8.50.

World Accumulation, 1492–1789. By Andre Gunder Frank. London: Macmillan, 1979. pp. 303. Hardback £10, paperback £3.95.

Dependent Accumulation and Underdevelopment. By Andre Gunder Frank. London: Macmillan, 1979. pp. xx + 226. Hardback £10, paperback £4.95.

Unequal Exchange, Imperialism and Underdevelopment. An Essay on the Political Economy of World Capitalism. By Ranjit Sau. Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1978. pp. xi + 202. Rs50/5.50.

The Soviet Theory of Development: India and the Third World in Marxist‐Leninist Scholarship. By Stephen Clarkson. London: Macmillan, 1979, pp. xii + 322, Notes and index, £12.00 (Hardback), £4.95 (paperback).

Pastoral Change and the Role of Drought. By Gudrun Dahl and Anders Hjort. Stockholm: SAREC Report No. 2, 1979. pp. 50, bibliography, six diagrams.

Ujamaa Villages in Tanzania: Analysis of a Social Experiment. By Michaela von Freyhold. London: Heinemann, 1979. pp. xviii+ 201, £3.95 (paper).

Rural Employment and Administration in the Third World: Development Methods and Alternative Strategies. By Charles Harvey, Jake Jacobs, Geoff Lamb, and Bernard Schaffer. Farnborough,’ England: Teakfield, 1979. pp. xi+111. £7.50.

The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. By James C. Scott. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1976. pp. ix + 246, £2.85 (paper).

Cities of Peasants: The Political Economy of Urbanization in the Third World. By Bryan Roberts. London: Edward Arnold, 1978. pp. vii + 207, £4.50.

Casual Work and Poverty in Third World Cities. Edited by Ray Bromley and Chris Gerry. New York: John Wiley, 1979. pp. x +323. £13.50.

Slums of Hope? Shanty Towns of the Third World. By Peter Lloyd. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979. pp. 246, £1.25.

Social Security in Latin America. By Carmelo Mesa‐Lago. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1978. pp. xix + 351.

Poverty, Development, and Health Policy. By B. Abel‐Smith, with A. Leiserson. Public Health Papers No. 69. Geneva: World Health Organization. 1978. pp. 108, $5.00.     

Testing for Fiscal Illusion in Wisconsin Towns

Fiscal illusion, a theory of the impact of government revenue structures on voter decision-making, has been studied extensively by economists and political scientists; however, empirical verification has been limited. This study builds on Lowery's (1987a) work by examining the relationship between suggested illusionary revenues and measures of electoral stress. Here, electoral stress is measured as constituent contacting—one possible measure of voter influence—for local government officials up for re-election. Using a combination of survey data from over 1,000 Wisconsin town board members, audited fiscal data and U.S. Census data, we were able to test for fiscal illusion. Our findings show that when looking at five revenue types (conditional grants, unconditional grants, property taxes, user fees and charges, and debt service) there is some evidence suggesting officials seeking another term in office will tend to support fees and charges as a revenue structure over other structures. Overall, there is little consistent evidence suggesting that elected officials are manipulating revenue structures for electoral gain. Revenue structures are mostly influenced by social and economic factors, such as median household income, population changes, and per capita property valuation.     

The Musandam peninsula and its people the Shihuh

Central Asia

Tibetan Foothold. By Dervla Murphy. London, John Murray, 1966. Pp. x + 206. Map. Illus. Index. 25s.

South Asia

Social Change in Modern India. By M. N. Srinivas. University of California Press; London, Cambridge University Press, 1966. Pp. xv + 194. Index. 55.00.

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Challenges in India. By Taya Zinkin. London, Chatto and Windus, 1966. Pp. 248. Index. 30s.

Succession in India. By Michael Brecher. London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. 269. Index. 35s.

Crisis in Kashmir, 1947 to 1966. By Alastair Lamb. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966. Pp. 150. Maps. Bibliog. Index. 25s.

South‐West Asia

Nationalism and Revolution in the Arab World. By Hisham B. Sharabi London, Van Nostrand Inc., 1966. Pp. ix +176. Map. 15s.

Farewell to Arabia. By David Holden. London, Faber, 1966. Pp. 268. Maps. Illus. Index. 35s.

Permanent Sovereignty over Oil Reserves. By Muhamad A. Mughraby. A Study of Middle East Oil Concessions and Legal Change. Beirut, The Middle East Research and Publishing Centre, 1966. Pp. 233. Bibliog. Index. £2 11s.; $7.00; L.L.22.00.

Oil and Public Opinion in the Middle East. By David Hirst. London, Faber, 1966. Pp. 127. Index. 30s.

Unknown Oman. By Wendell Phillips. London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1966. Pp. xiii + 319. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

The Kurds. An Historical and Political Study. By Hassan Arfa. London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. xi + 178. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 35s.

South‐East Asia

The Making of South‐East Asia. By G. Coedès. Trans. by H. M. Wright. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966. Pp. xvii + 268. Map. Illus. Index. 35s.

South‐East Asia: Race, Culture and Nation. By Guy Hunter. Published for the Institute of Race Relations by Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. xix + 190. Maps. Index. 35s.

Reporting South‐East Asia. By Denis Warner. London, Angus and Robertson, 1966. Pp. 342. Maps. Index. 36s.

Vietnam: Between Two Truces. By Jean Lacouture (trans. Konrad Kellen and Joel Carmichael). London, Seeker and Warburg, 1966. Pp. vi + 295. Sketch map. Index. 35s.

The Lost Revolutions Vietnam 1945–65. By Robert Shaplen. London, Andre Deutsch, 1966. Pp. xxi + 404. Map. Index. 36s.

Viet‐nam Witness 1953–1966. By Bernard Fall. London, Pall Mall Press, 1966. Pp. ix + 363. Sketch maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 50s.

Vietnam. Penguin Special edited by Marvin E. Gettleman. Penguin Books, 1966. Pp. 480. Maps. Appendices. Index. 8s. 6d.

Towards Peace in Indo‐China. By Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon. Published for Chatham House by Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. 71. 7s. 6d.

Soviet Strategies in Southeast Asia. An Exploration of Eastern Policy under Lenin and Stalin. By Charles B. McLane. Princeton University Press; London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. xv + 563. Map. Chronology. Bibliog. Index. £5.

Far East

A Quarter of Mankind. By Dick Wilson. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966. Pp. 308. Map. Bibliog. Index. 45s.

Chinese Journey. By Gun Kessle and Jan Myrdal. London, Chatto and Windus, 1965. Pp. 160. 45s.

The First Years of Yangyi Commune. By Isabel and David Crook. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966. Pp. iv + 288. Map. Illus. Index. 42s.

Bibliography and Philology

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A Kurdish‐English Dictionary. By Taufiq Wahby and C. J. Edmonds. Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. x +179. 42s.

Biography and Autobiography

Faisal. By Gerald de Gaury. London, Arthur Barker, 1966. Pp. xiv + 191. Sketch map. Illus. Index. 36s.

Hirohito, Emperor of Japan. By Leonard Mosley. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966. Pp. xiii + 371. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Born in Tibet. By Chögyam Trungpa. London, Allen and Unwin, 1966. Pp. 264. Illus. Maps. Index. 35s.

Past Imperative. By Sir Edward Wakefield. London, Chatto and Windus, 1966. Pp. xi + 226. Maps. Index. 35s.

Apprentice to Power. India 1904–1908. By Sir Malcolm Darling. London, Chatto and Windus, 1966. Pp. 256. 35s.

Kipling in India. By Louis L. Cornell. London, Macmillan, 1966. Pp. xiii + 224. Index. 30s.

Pickering, Protector of Chinese. By R. N. Jackson. London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. 127. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. 32s.

Raffles. By Maurice Collis. London, Faber, 1966. Pp. 227. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Servants of the Dragon Throne. By Charles Drage. London, Peter Dawnay, 1966. Pp. 283. Sketch Maps. Illus. Index. 42s.

The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Revised Translation by Eilichi Kiyooka with a Foreword by Carmen Blacker. Columbia University Press, 1966. Pp. xv+ 407. Illus. Index. 56s.

Civilization and culture

Islamic Art and Architecture. By Ernst Kühnel. London, G. Bell and Sons, 1966. Pp. 200. 118 illustrations in black and white. 21 plans. Glossary. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

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History

The War Against Japan. Vol. IV of the Official History. By S. Woodburn Kirby et al. H.M.S.O., 1965. Pp. xxv + 568. Maps. Photographs. Appendices. Index. 85s.

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An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore. By Charles Burton Buckley. London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Kuala Lumpur, University of Malaya Press, 1965. Pp. xii + 790. Maps. Illus. Index. 68s.

The Eastern Question 1774–1923. A Study in International Relations. By M. S. Anderson. London, Macmillan, 1966. Papcrmac. Pp. xxi + 436. Maps. Index. 25s.

England zwischen Russland und Deutschland. Der Persische Golf in der britischen Vorkriegspolitik, 1899–1907, dargestellt nach englischem Archivma‐terial. By Jens B. Plass. Hamburg, Hamburger Gesellschaft fur Völkerrecht und Auswartige Politik, 1966. (Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Aüswartige Politik, Bd. 3.) Pp. viii + 507. Maps. Bibliog. Index. No price.

The Pirate Coast. By Sir Charles Belgrave. London, G. Bell and Sons Ltd., 1966. Pp. xii + 200. Maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 30s.

Egypt and the Fertile Crescent 1516–1922. By P. M. Holt. London, Longmans, 1966. Pp. xii + 337. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Four Aspects of Egypt. By John Marlowe. London, Allen and Unwin, 1966. Pp. 303. Maps. Illus. Index. 45s.

Rome on the Euphrates. By Freya Stark. London, John Murray, 1966. Pp. xii + 481. Endpaper maps. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 63s.

The Greeks in India. By George Woodcock. London, Faber, 1966. Pp. 199. Illus. Bibliog. Index. 42s.

Asia, Gods and Cities. By George Woodcock. London, Faber, 1966. Pp. 340. Sketch map. Illus. Index. 36s.

East Turkistan to the Twelfth Century. By W. Samolin. Central Asiatic Studies, IX. Mouton and Co., The Hague, 1964. Pp. 100. Bibliog. Index. Map.

Religion and Philosophy

Afghani and ‘Abduh. An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam. By Élie Kedourie. London, Frank Cass and Co., 1966. Pp. ix + 97. 30s.

Islam et Capitalisme. By M. Rodinson. Paris, Aux Éditions du Seuil, 1966. Pp. 305.     

Species Identification of Cannabis sativa Using Real‐Time Quantitative PCR (qPCR),

Most narcotics‐related cases in the United States involve Cannabis sativa. Material is typically identified based on the cystolithic hairs on the leaves and with chemical tests to identify of the presence of cannabinoids. Suspect seeds are germinated into a viable plant so that morphological and chemical tests can be conducted. Seed germination, however, causes undue analytical delays. DNA analyses that involve the chloroplast and nuclear genomes have been developed for identification of C. sativa materials, but they require several nanograms of template DNA. Using the trnL 3′ exon‐trnF intragenic spacer regions within the C. sativa chloroplast, we have developed a real‐time quantitative PCR assay that is capable of identifying picogram amounts of chloroplast DNA for species determination of suspected C. sativa material. This assay provides forensic science laboratories with a quick and reliable method to identify an unknown sample as C. sativa.     

Book reviews and notes etc.

HOW TO STUDY LAW. By A. Bradney, V. Fisher, J. Masson, A. Neal and D. Newall. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 237 pp. (inc. index) £5.95 (paperback); £9.50 (cloth).]

READING THE LAW: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL METHOD AND TECHNIQUES. By Peter Goodrich. [Basil Blackwell. 1986. xi and 229 pp. £27.50 (hardback); £9.50 (paperback).]

DIRECTION, OR PREPARATIVE TO THE STUDY OF THE LAW. By William Fulbeck. [Wildwood House. 1987. xviii, 12 and 255 pp. £6.95.]

CONCORD: FREE TEXT INFORMATION RETRIEVAL. Version 3.0. By Bytesmiths Ltd. [Bytesmiths Ltd., Stoney Close, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Bishop's Stortford, Herts. 1986. £395 or £495 with full site licence]

HERACLES’ BOW: ESSAYS ON THE RHETORIC AND POETICS OF THE LAW. By James Boyd White. [University of Wisconsin Press. 1985. xviii and 251 pp. (inc. index). £22.50.]

PUBLIC LAW AND POLITICS: Edited by C. Harlow. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 255 pp. £28.00 (hardback).]

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS—PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR THE CROWN PROSECUTOR. By G. Mansfield and J. Peay. [Tavistock. 1987. viii and 246 pp. £25.00 (cloth).]

POLICING INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES. By Roger Geary. [Methuen. 1986. 171 pp. £5.95 (paperback).]

SEX SHOPS AND THE LAW. By Colin Manchester. [Gower. 1986. xx and 264 pp. (inc. appendices and index). £18.50.]

CIVIL LIABILITY STATUTES. By F. D. Rose. [Financial Training Ltd. 1987. x and 150 pp. £8.50 (paperback).]

TORT. Fourth edition. By C. D. Baker. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxxii & 398 pp. £8.95 (paperback).]

AN OUTLINE OF THE LAW OF AGENCY. Second edition. By B. S. Markesinis and R. J. C. Munday. [Butterworths. 1986. xxi and 255 pp. £13.50 (hardback); £8.50 (paperback).]

CASES IN THE LAW OF BANKING 1983–1985. Second edition. By P. E. Smart. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 95 pp. £6.95 (paperback).]

MAUDSLEY AND BURN'S LAND LAW CASES AND MATERIALS. Fifth edition‐. By E. H. Burn. [Butterworths. 1986. xcii and 865 pp. plus index. £21.95 (soft cover); £32.00 (hard cover).]

CASES AND STATUTES ON LAND LAW. Second edition. By E. L. G. Tyler. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxvii and 335 pp. £10.95 (paperback).]

DISCUSSIONS IN BIOETHICS. VHS Videos. [Educational Media International, 25 Boileau Road, London W5 3AL. £75.00 (sale); £20.00 (rental).]     

Psychosocial Contributors to Delinquent Decision Making: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Adolescent Female Offending

The integration of psychosocial characteristics that play a critical role in delinquent decision making is crucial to conceptualizing adolescent female offending. This study found that adolescent female offenders (N = 213), despite making a delinquent decision, had high perceived decision-making competence. There was a significant negative association between delinquent decision making and the psychosocial characteristics of anger, substance abuse, and depression. This association was stronger for those with more exposure to trauma. Substance abuse appeared to provide a pathway between psychosocial characteristics and delinquent decision making. The results emphasize the fact that a conceptual framework for adolescent female offending should incorporate the complex interaction of psychosocial characteristics and their impact on delinquent decision making.     

Contemporary prison overcrowding: short-term fixes to a perpetual problem

Since the United States began using incarceration as its cornerstone of punishment for those who transgress the law, this method of discipline has been fraught with problems. One of the most ubiquitous problems found within correctional institutions are the conditions inmates are forced to live in particularly, when penal facilities are overcrowded. These conditions have led to extensive litigation, compelling the judicial system to change. Although overall conditions have improved, a perpetually increasing inmate population continues to plague correctional systems as costs continue to rise. As state budgets have become strained during the economic downturns, many states’ officials view less punitive measures as possible solutions to the excessive costs of administering punishment and overcrowded inmate populations. Due to facility overcrowding, several states have actually been placed under federal court order to reduce their inmate population in order to protect inmates’ constitutional rights. Although this has resulted in a change of policies to help alleviate prison overcrowding, there is little evidence these are anything more than short-term fixes to a problem with no end in sight.