Today, representatives and citizens are seen as two separate entities, creating an “us versus them” feeling. This needs to change. One way to do this is to create the equivalent of a “Social Causes for India” project. These 5-10 hours … Continue reading →

Fifth, political parties must explore the concept of primaries to foster inner-party democracy. At one time, Indian political parties used to have this. But this has slowly disappeared. By bringing primaries, we will ensure that local issues have importance, and … Continue reading →

Third, technology can help complement the face-to-face interactions. All elected representatives must have web pages, email IDs and mobile keywords wherein citizens can send feedback, suggestions and grievances to them. A time-based response mechanism must be set up. Companies do … Continue reading →

First, there need to be forums where citizens can debate issues amongst themselves. The problem today is that there are too many claimants for the civil society mantle. Instead, what needs to happen is neighbourhood forums where citizens can debate … Continue reading →

Even as Parliament gets down to discussing the details of the Lok Pal Bill, we need to take some learnings from what has happened in August. First, India’s middle class and youth have genuine reason to be unhappy. Anna tapped … Continue reading →

Transforming India (Dec) When Gujarat Met China (Nov) Why Gujarat is Different (Nov) UPA 2’s Mid-term Blues (Nov) Citizens and Politicians Engagement: From Confrontation to Constructive Co-operation (Oct) Getting to the Goal of Good Governance (Sep) The Right Fight (Aug) … Continue reading →