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

Making Bureaucracy Work investigates when and how public agencies deliver primary education across rural India, revealing how differences in bureaucratic norms generate divergent implementation patterns and outcomes.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 440 pages
Publication date: 25 January 2024
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Across the world, countries have adopted policies for universal primary education, yet policy implementation remains uneven and poorly understood. Making Bureaucracy Work delves into the timing and mechanisms through which public agencies deliver primary education in rural India. Through a multi-level comparative analysis and over two years of ethnographic field research, Mangla uncovers the mysteries of Indian bureaucracy, shedding light on how variations in bureaucratic norms, informal rules that guide public officials and their interactions with citizens, yield distinct implementation patterns and outcomes. While certain public agencies adhere to a legalistic approach, emphasizing policy compliance, others engage in deliberative processes, fostering flexible problem-solving with local communities, thereby improving the quality of education services. This book unveils the intricate interplay between bureaucratic norms and socioeconomic inequalities on the ground, illuminating both the potential and challenges for bureaucracy to promote inclusive development.

Making Bureaucracy Work delves into the timing and mechanisms through which public agencies deliver primary education in rural India. Through a multi-level comparative analysis and over two years of ethnographic field research, Mangla uncovers the mysteries of Indian bureaucracy, shedding light on how variations in bureaucratic norms, informal rules that guide public officials and their interactions with citizens, yield distinct implementation patterns and outcomes. While certain public agencies adhere to a legalistic approach, emphasizing policy compliance, others engage in deliberative processes, fostering flexible problem-solving with local communities, thereby improving the quality of education services. This book unveils the intricate interplay between bureaucratic norms and socioeconomic inequalities on the ground, illuminating both the potential and challenges for bureaucracy to promote inclusive development.

Weight: 666g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781009258043