ABSTRACT
Introduction India has provided some of the most dramatic examples of tensions between civil society and the state on the perceived failure of government action to control corruption. This chapter will examine a number of signicant episodes in the development of anti-corruption civil society action in India, including the campaign for public audits in Rajasthan by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), the quest for strong access to information laws by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), and the demand for a powerful public ombudsman by the India Against Corruption movement (IAC). Drawing upon these examples, this chapter will strive to provide a bottom-up, citizens’ perspective on the nature of corruption in India and on the remedies that are required. The chapter will also aim to shed light on whether anti-corruption civil society action has actually achieved success, be this dened in terms of reducing the magnitude of corruption, or in emboldening anti-corruption reformers within government to push through specic laws and policies, or in shifting public discourses on corruption in enduring ways. Finally, by exploring tensions as well as moments of compromise in the relationship between the state and civil society, and between dierent civil society groups, the chapter will reect upon the politics of anti-corruption reform and why some civil society mobilisations have endured better and had more impact than others.
