Making Bureaucracy Work
Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India

This book examines when and how public bureaucracies work for disadvantaged citizens through a comparative study of primary education in rural India.

Akshay Mangla (Author)

9781009258012, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 December 2022

350 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 3 cm, 0.8 kg

'Social norms are the glue and grease of every organization, from families and communities to corporations and governments. Yet the origins, durability and effects of social norms are remarkably understudied. In this path-breaking book, Akshay Mangla documents the decisive role that implementation systems characterized by legalistic and deliberative social norms play in shaping the wide variation in learning outcomes across primary schools in north India. Mangla takes us on an engaging and instructive journey across different interacting layers of carefully matched locations to tease out where, how and when social norms create or shrink space for problem-solving and innovation. The implications of his findings are of first-order importance not only for Indian policymakers seeking to enhance learning outcomes for millions of students, but for all those forging new ways to build state capability for policy implementation.' Michael Woolcock, World Bank and Harvard University, Co-author of Building State Capability

What makes bureaucracy work for the least advantaged? Across the world, countries have adopted policies for universal primary education. Yet, policy implementation is uneven and not well understood. Making Bureaucracy Work investigates when and how public agencies deliver primary education across rural India. Through a multi-level comparative analysis and more than two years of ethnographic field research, Mangla opens the 'black box' of Indian bureaucracy to demonstrate how differences in bureaucratic norms - informal rules that guide public officials and their everyday relations with citizens - generate divergent implementation patterns and outcomes. While some public agencies operate in a legalistic manner and promote compliance with policy rules, others engage in deliberation and encourage flexible problem-solving with local communities, thereby enhancing the quality of education services. This book reveals the complex ways bureaucratic norms interact with socioeconomic inequalities on the ground, illuminating the possibilities and obstacles for bureaucracy to promote inclusive development.

Part I. Introduction, Puzzles and Theory: 1. Introduction: bureaucracy and the politics of implementing primary education
2. Bureaucratic norms: a theory of implementation
3. The state and primary education in India
Part II. Implementing Primary Education in Northern India: 4. How legalistic bureaucracy generates uneven implementation
5. How deliberative bureaucracy facilitates adaptive implementation
6. Norm persistence: exit, voice and bureaucratic inertia
7. Norm change: conflict and commitment on the front lines of reform
Part III. Comparative Extensions and Implications: 8. The argument in comparative perspective
9. Conclusion: reimagining bureaucracy for inclusive development
Appendix: researching bureaucracy and frontline public services.

Subject Areas: Political control & freedoms [JPV], Regional government [JPR], Political parties [JPL], Political structure & processes [JPH], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Educational strategies & policy [JNF]