Research
My research interests lie in institutional and policy change, governance, distributive politics, state capacity, bureaucratic culture, international relations, local and global governance, political economy of development and welfare, public policy, comparative politics, and the politics of climate change.
Ongoing Research
Institutional Change
My most recent research examines the why and how of institutional change. Scholars point towards the 'stickiness' of institutions as stubbornly persisting on the historical landscape. Institutions are path-dependent on history; and this nature of institutions renders them change-resistant, and it is cost-ineffective to exit from the status quo. So how and under what conditions institutions change is an important question. In this research project I examine the process of institutional change through the lens of transformation in the 'information regime' in India by tracing the passage of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTIA). I seek to capture the why and how of institutional change by examining what explains it and how it came about. By highlighting the socio-political processes that contributed towards both theory and policy, it seeks to nuance the narrative of the RTIA, and contribute conceptually to the emerging literature on institutional change.
Politics of Accountability: Governance and State Capacity
I have examined the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at the sub-national level. For this we have undertaken field work in year 2014 in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The state of Andhra Pradesh is one of the success stories in the implementation of MGNREGS, one of the world's largest employment guarantee schemes being implemented all over India since 2006. The programme is hobbled by rampant corruption in many Indian states. Andhra Pradesh is different. The poor and the excluded are demanding and obtaining work through the scheme.
Books
Globalization and Governance in India
Edited with Jivanta Schottli. Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2023.
View Book →
Capturing Institutional Change: The Case of the Right to Information Act in India
Oxford University Press, 2020. Among top ten Books to read in 2020 — The Print.
Work in Progress
Constitutional Pathways to Norm Change: Ideas and Policy Paradigms
Audacious Policy Reforms in a Weak State: Decoding Political and Administrative Responsiveness in a Low Capacity Milieu
Varieties of Transparency and Accountability in India: de jure Change and de facto Continuity
Nomads of Fortune: How Political Regimes Shape Entrepreneurship in Central Asia
Academic Collaborations
World Bank — Roots of Citizen Concern and Welfare in India
World Bank funded collaborative research on the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Andhra Pradesh.
Rethinking Stakeholder Participation — University of Munich / Swiss Network for International Studies
Collaborative research on politics of climate change and climate finance focusing on India and Bangladesh, demonstrating the 'embedded liberal' nature of their responses to climate negotiations.
Global India — Horizon 2020 European Training Network
Part of the Global India programme, a Horizon 2020 funded European Training Network with 9 partners in 6 EU countries and 9 partners in India.
MoU — University of Warsaw
Established MoU for student exchange.
MoU — Institute of Indian Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea
Faculty exchange and research collaborations.
Research and Student Mobility Collaboration — HSE, St. Petersburg, Russia
Research and student mobility collaboration.