ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the theoretical foundations, discusses their methodological implications, examines the role of the state in the development, and opens up the black box of the state through analyzing determinants of policy choices of regional leaders. It employs the subnational comparative method and regional institutional analysis method to depict a more transparent image of interrelations of governance and development India. Roma Mitra neo-institutional model of governance has more capabilities and merits for an objective analysis of governance in India than good governance perspective. The polycentric hierarchy model does not concentrate on the Central Governments; on the contrary, it focuses on both national and subnational levels. The chapter argues that not only national level institutions and national elites matter, but also the regional institutions and regional elites matter. It also presents the various hypothetical relations between strategic choices of chief minister in the vertical and horizontal games.
