This case study looks at democratic innovations in what was once considered as the world’s largest democracy: India.
The case study addresses two different democratic innovations. One innovation consists in the “little parliament” or Gram Sabha, which brings political participation and decision-making down to the smallest administrative unit – village level and can be considered as one of the most radical exercises in direct democracy globally. The other innovation analysed in the report is the Social Audit. This is carried out through a jan sunwai (a public hearing) and acts as a mechanism through which citizens can organise and mobilise to evaluate the government’s performance in a particular policy area.
The “Exploring Worldwide Democratic Innovations” project was supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung.
This case study was written by Niranjan Sahoo.
