![caotnm st in it iumeunm cy obnee tw la ee knherluep ct eieosnasv . a In il aobulr area it is said that a man needs to have cSocnhteedsu ti l n ed g C an asM te L ca A n ’ dsisdeaatte ) ( . exVcoetpetspaerrehbaepfsor in eitthies worth even thinking about Low Caste and Scheduled Caste evcoo te m r monly cpausrecohfasseeda , tsesrpee se c rved for a dominant but numerically inferior castes issm (v oorte in lgi ke w ly it h to in fo tlh lo ewp ia o lly from alignm fa l c it tiicoanla ly l e so v m en etfhoeir nts). In the local govern ngvio ll fag th eehoeraddesrhiopf ( R sa s r .3 p m an ecnht ) elections o f 1981, a serious ca 0-50,00 w0ou in ld anhaavveertaoger -e s c iz keodnvo il n la gsepnedniddiantgee to le c g tion , if the expa entst wa i h on epsocro tf notleisote in ministe tdh . e5y3 And rial pwoarn tf t M (w in hiisctherissm pe aryhhaapvseptaor pay the Chief Minister c olios). Money is not th teoofnltyhererqeu as ir oenmfeonrt , thoefbouutrtshee ; favours Politi rceia is nsnhoadfoourbstup th paotrtteh rs must be ve been able teorm up ak ee epurs ic oebtoafi ned from the bureaiicr e of th s e uccessful politics is Ve arcyyhtio gh o, . c Ir orsitgsao ti fone ; le catnodr al o n co emwpoeu ti ltd io n ex . p W ec ethtahvaetsIerern ig ahobw ur etahu ey cr d ac oystooihneltphemceaestethoefvaa ls louabbelceaudseepa it rstm de en c t to control, not tion would be an especially and the economic ipsr io o n sp segrr it eya tl oyfalfo fe ccotnltyhebp ec o a li u ti scealitpsrpoesnpdesc ts biog money but (though I shall not go into the al communities. However, f p it oliist ic cilaen ar s o in neosthaesrAggorviecrun lt muernetadnedpaLratbmoem nt asta te srwheelrle , ) i n th c a lu tdsiinmgilsaurcmheacphpaanriesnmts ly o ‘ pce le r a at n e ’ rac Tyh , eatnrd an stfheursis the politician usr ’ bWaeslifcaw re e . apon bureaucracy. Wit thhe th le eve tr ranfsofrersuwrepalpuos-nexn tr oat ct oinoonfcfornotm ro l th ov e er cltih en etbsuo re f au th c e m re o sp noeny si bvyeednio re ucgthstaolet ; they can also remov ly can the politicians raise to those from whom thhee ir y m ge otnem ta ornyeydeamnadnedlseorstoomtehoen ir erewqhuo es tiss fo nroftavboeu in rgscwohnitcrhactthoersb . u O re naeuc is ratchyusa led to visualise ectoral support— in particular, farmers in the form of vcaqruiiarbelse co le nvtireos, loafsfpuencd ia s l , cpia rc r u tl iyt of transactions, in works budget, then passes a portion to MaLnAds partly from (i t n this case) from in turn use the funds for distributing short-t earnmdem sp a e te c r ia ia ll lyheMsitnaitset ’ esrsp , uwbh li oce th xrco hange for electoral support. These funds, it should be niontd ic uecde , mdeontfsloiwnfsocrrtuhtuignhy the public domain (in one sense); but they are neither open to public Th ciosm ‘t irnngo ] r . available for public expenditure programmes [Wade, bottom-lev aenls fe crorm ru opdte io l’ n , wain th d it bsetsw ys eteenmaatd ic m li ruption, is, I think, quite plausible once spell iennik st argaet iv bee tw an een top-level and the processes it describes are d out. One wdonpdoelr it sicwahl et choerr absence from the political sci ennoctem lit oerreatcuormem wo ounld in supgogoersct. o5u4 ntries than its g In o ve th rn emsepnetc if tiocd co ontto ex timopfrocvaenatlheOsi & tu at M io , n ? whOante sh lin ou e ld ofrseo fo lu rm tio e n rs wphriecshs](https://images.tandf.co.uk/common/jackets/crclarge/978113896/9781138967571.jpg "caotnm st in it iumeunm cy obnee tw la ee knherluep ct eieosnasv . a In il aobulr area it is said that a man needs to have cSocnhteedsu ti l n ed g C an asM te L ca A n ’ dsisdeaatte ) ( . exVcoetpetspaerrehbaepfsor in eitthies worth even thinking about Low Caste and Scheduled Caste evcoo te m r monly cpausrecohfasseeda , tsesrpee se c rved for a dominant but numerically inferior castes issm (v oorte in lgi ke w ly it h to in fo tlh lo ewp ia o lly from alignm fa l c it tiicoanla ly l e so v m en etfhoeir nts). In the local govern ngvio ll fag th eehoeraddesrhiopf ( R sa s r .3 p m an ecnht ) elections o f 1981, a serious ca 0-50,00 w0ou in ld anhaavveertaoger -e s c iz keodnvo il n la gsepnedniddiantgee to le c g tion , if the expa entst wa i h on epsocro tf notleisote in ministe tdh . e5y3 And rial pwoarn tf t M (w in hiisctherissm pe aryhhaapvseptaor pay the Chief Minister c olios). Money is not th teoofnltyhererqeu as ir oenmfeonrt , thoefbouutrtshee ; favours Politi rceia is nsnhoadfoourbstup th paotrtteh rs must be ve been able teorm up ak ee epurs ic oebtoafi ned from the bureaiicr e of th s e uccessful politics is Ve arcyyhtio gh o, . c Ir orsitgsao ti fone ; le catnodr al o n co emwpoeu ti ltd io n ex . p W ec ethtahvaetsIerern ig ahobw ur etahu ey cr d ac oystooihneltphemceaestethoefvaa ls louabbelceaudseepa it rstm de en c t to control, not tion would be an especially and the economic ipsr io o n sp segrr it eya tl oyfalfo fe ccotnltyhebp ec o a li u ti scealitpsrpoesnpdesc ts biog money but (though I shall not go into the al communities. However, f p it oliist ic cilaen ar s o in neosthaesrAggorviecrun lt muernetadnedpaLratbmoem nt asta te srwheelrle , ) i n th c a lu tdsiinmgilsaurcmheacphpaanriesnmts ly o ‘ pce le r a at n e ’ rac Tyh , eatnrd an stfheursis the politician usr ’ bWaeslifcaw re e . apon bureaucracy. Wit thhe th le eve tr ranfsofrersuwrepalpuos-nexn tr oat ct oinoonfcfornotm ro l th ov e er cltih en etbsuo re f au th c e m re o sp noeny si bvyeednio re ucgthstaolet ; they can also remov ly can the politicians raise to those from whom thhee ir y m ge otnem ta ornyeydeamnadnedlseorstoomtehoen ir erewqhuo es tiss fo nroftavboeu in rgscwohnitcrhactthoersb . u O re naeuc is ratchyusa led to visualise ectoral support— in particular, farmers in the form of vcaqruiiarbelse co le nvtireos, loafsfpuencd ia s l , cpia rc r u tl iyt of transactions, in works budget, then passes a portion to MaLnAds partly from (i t n this case) from in turn use the funds for distributing short-t earnmdem sp a e te c r ia ia ll lyheMsitnaitset ’ esrsp , uwbh li oce th xrco hange for electoral support. These funds, it should be niontd ic uecde , mdeontfsloiwnfsocrrtuhtuignhy the public domain (in one sense); but they are neither open to public Th ciosm ‘t irnngo ] r . available for public expenditure programmes [Wade, bottom-lev aenls fe crorm ru opdte io l’ n , wain th d it bsetsw ys eteenmaatd ic m li ruption, is, I think, quite plausible once spell iennik st argaet iv bee tw an een top-level and the processes it describes are d out. One wdonpdoelr it sicwahl et choerr absence from the political sci ennoctem lit oerreatcuormem wo ounld in supgogoersct. o5u4 ntries than its g In o ve th rn emsepnetc if tiocd co ontto ex timopfrocvaenatlheOsi & tu at M io , n ? whOante sh lin ou e ld ofrseo fo lu rm tio e n rs wphriecshs")
ABSTRACT
constituency between elections. In our area it is said that a man needs to have at minimum one lakh rupees available before it is worth even thinking about contesting an MLA’s seat (except perhaps in the case of seats reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate). Votes are commonly purchased, especially from Low Caste and Scheduled Caste voters (voting within the politically dominant but numerically inferior castes is more likely to follow factional alignments). In the local government elections o f 1981, a serious candidate even for village headship (sarpanch) would have to reckon on spending something o f the order o f Rs.30-50,000 in an average-sized village, if the election was contested.53 And Ministers may have to pay the Chief Minister to get the portfolio they want (which is perhaps part o f the reason for the expansion in ministerial portfolios). Money is not the only requirement, o f course; favours for supporters must be obtained from the bureaiicracy too, but there is no doubt that the rupee price of successful politics is Very high.Politicians have been able to make use o f the bureaucracy to help meet the costs o f electoral competition. We have seen how they do so in the case o f Irrigation; and one would expect that Irrigation would be an especially valuable department to control, not only because it spends big money but also because its decisions greatly affect the political prospects o f politicians and the economic prosperity o f local communities. However, it is clear (though I shall not go into the matter here) that similar mechanisms operate in other government departments as well, including such apparently ‘clean’ ones as Agriculture and Labour Welfare.The transfer is the politicians’ basic weapon o f control over the bureaucracy, and thus the lever for surplus-extraction from the clients o f the bureaucracy. With the transfer weapon not only can the politicians raise money by direct sale; they can also remove someone who is not being responsive enough to their monetary demands or to their requests for favours to those from whom they get money and electoral support-in particular, contractors. One is thus led to visualise a special circuit o f transactions, in which the bureaucracy acquires control o f funds, partly (in this case) from farmers in the form o f variable levies, and partly from the state’s public works budget, then passes a portion to MLAs and especially Ministers, who in turn use the funds for distributing short-term material inducements in exchange for electoral support. These funds, it should be noticed, do flow through the public domain (in one sense); but they are neither open to public scrutiny nor available for public expenditure programmes [Wade, forthcoming].This ‘transfer model’, with its systematic linkage between top-level and bottom-level corruption and between administrative and political corruption, is, I think, quite plausible once spelled out. One wonders whether the processes it describes are not more common in poor countries than its absence from the political science literature would suggest.54 POLICY RESPONSES In the specific context o f canal O & M, what should reformers press government to do to improve the situation? One line o f solution which
