tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post4025764418688035182..comments2024-03-29T12:03:50.891+05:30Comments on The Leap Blog: Activism and wonkery are the yin and yangAjay Shahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-56866134154527491882013-01-11T16:22:54.399+05:302013-01-11T16:22:54.399+05:30Yes. Please see How to use this blog.Yes. Please see <a href="http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah/MISC/using_my_blog.html" rel="nofollow"><i>How to use this blog</i></a>.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-34094951034329491212013-01-11T16:02:27.901+05:302013-01-11T16:02:27.901+05:30Fantastic Article. Can I translate this to Kannada...Fantastic Article. Can I translate this to Kannada and send to local Kannada news papers here in Bengaluru?<br /><br />-Vasant Shetty<br />Bengaluruವಸಂತhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05622614948144264339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-19020366823313672232013-01-09T05:19:21.457+05:302013-01-09T05:19:21.457+05:30Is the jholawala term synonymous with those who do...Is the jholawala term synonymous with those who do development economics? <br /><br /><a href="http://fakeer.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/the-jholawala-sydnrome/" rel="nofollow">The Jholawala Syndrome</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-19942112359001436922013-01-08T07:02:04.778+05:302013-01-08T07:02:04.778+05:30Thanks for sharing the paper! These points were es...Thanks for sharing the paper! These points were especially useful:<br /><br />"The central theme of this paper is solving puzzles of governance using modern information technology; not IT for its own sake."<br /><br />"Often, an innovative solution will depart from “international best practice”."<br /><br />"Solving puzzles in governance through IT systems compresses a multi-decade process into a few years, and fuels high economic growth."<br /><br />This paper feeds back into the 'hard problem' argument. Maybe the problems are not that hard given the evidence from successful IT-led transformations? Although thinking through the transformation of a hard problem to an easier one using technology may itself be hard. :) <br /><br />The govt should institute a huge research department to identify just such problems and solutions using IT systems? Maybe, they have done so already? Seems like if the govt should do anything at all, it should be this. What one senses though (going by the general feeling among policy intellectuals) is that maybe they are going the opposite way and the belief in this is not as strong as it should be?<br /><br />-----<br /><br />"In a few places in the world, there was thinking of a completely level which illuminated and reshaped this process. This doesn't always happen, and we in India shouldn't take it for granted."<br /><br />The US was founded at the end of the Enlightenment. I wonder if that is to be looked upon as a luck factor that led to the US founding principles being as good as they were? Give or take a century and maybe the US constitution wouldn't have had such strong words for individual liberty?<br /><br />And, looking at our founding fathers, and the flaws in some of our founding principles, I wonder if the problem at independence was the same as the problem today - lot of activism, insufficient wonkery?Viveknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-55508969599057436772013-01-08T06:01:27.646+05:302013-01-08T06:01:27.646+05:30I was reminded of the same point made by Shourie a...I was reminded of the same point made by Shourie a while ago. The role of elites in society was very well articulated by him. The quality of elites is an outcome of the quality of institutions and in turn the quality of society and culture we have.<br /><br /><a href="http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/11/achievers-interview-with-arun-shourie.htm" rel="nofollow">Arun Shourie: Mediocrity has become the norm</a><br /><br />I am hopeful that college education in India will be irrelevant due to easy access to online courses. But, I don't know how far one can get by watching videos. We are losing the habit of reading books, which was anyway a less than prevalent habit in India.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-33717826618146579932013-01-07T16:40:02.985+05:302013-01-07T16:40:02.985+05:30The burden of analysis for the entire country sure...<i>The burden of analysis for the entire country surely cannot be made to fall on a few bright minds amongst us.</i> But does the burden of finding the new physics that will make space travel possible not fall on a few bright minds amongst us? :)<br /><br /><i>Furthermore, if we need more public intellectuals, how are we going to get this to happen?</i> I think it's truly hard. We are doing very badly on both supply and demand for policy advice. I don't see this changing quickly.<br /><br /><i>So, to me, a possible solution seems the intellectualisation of young and middle-aged educated Indians in this country.</i> I agree! The protests of the last two years are a huge step forward, in taking the middle class from sullen resentment about a socialist India to a middle class that is speaking up. But the need of the hour is to improve the quality of the conversation. <br /><br />Most college education in India is pointless. Broad intellectualisation requires reading books about the world, reading longform articles in the Western press, and reading+participating in blogs such as this one.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-77704713659433894702013-01-07T14:46:34.616+05:302013-01-07T14:46:34.616+05:30Mr. Shah, I am very impressed by the points you ha...Mr. Shah, I am very impressed by the points you have made. The discourse in the media has been dominated by emotions and tough-talk and little good has come out of it.<br /><br />But what I wish to ask you is this: if we point to the lack of meaningful analysis by intellectuals in this case, the same could be said of every other problem facing the nation too. The burden of analysis for the entire country surely cannot be made to fall on a few bright minds amongst us.<br />Furthermore, if we need more public intellectuals, how are we going to get this to happen? This would probably require substantial educational reforms, which if we were capable of formulating and implementing, we would never be in this position as a country today.<br />So, to me, a possible solution seems the intellectualisation of young and middle-aged educated Indians in this country. I mean working people with ordinary lives, who are actually the most affected by the misgovernance of our country. Of course people will make their own choices, but we need to increase their exposure to the fields of politics, economics, philosophy, etc. How can we achieve this? What are your views on the appropriate actions in this respect?<br />I would also like to state that I am just a young IT graduate, working in the networking field, but I share the hopes and aspirations of millions of Indians and I feel that responsible, well thought-out opinions like yours must be valued if we are to get any meaningful solutions out of this. <br />I have been following your blog for more than a year now. <br />Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-76839036023743993102013-01-06T19:12:59.139+05:302013-01-06T19:12:59.139+05:30An example.<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043878/79/2" rel="nofollow">An example</a>.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-15739472950208785742013-01-06T19:00:36.630+05:302013-01-06T19:00:36.630+05:30Dear Anonymous,
All countries have some kind of p...Dear Anonymous,<br /><br />All countries have some kind of politics or the other. Politics, as in rival groups seeking to control the apparatus and benefit from it, is a universal phenomenon.<br /><br />In a few places in the world, there was thinking of a completely level which illuminated and reshaped this process. This doesn't always happen, and we in India shouldn't take it for granted. But it can happen. Our defining question is: Is India going to rise into prosperity and success? For this, a whole new world of ideas has to come about, that interacts with politics and reshapes it. If we fail to do that, we'll just be a Philippines or Indonesia or Argentina.<br /><br />E.g. compare the typical African nation that got freedom from colonialism versus India in 1947. What was the difference? It was in the intellect of the freedom fighters. We could just have been grunts who picked up guns and shot the British. Many in India advocated such paths. But we did differently? Why? It was about imagination and ideas.<br /><br />Both activism and wonkery are necessary conditions.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-4528749178938323882013-01-06T18:53:44.196+05:302013-01-06T18:53:44.196+05:30We need intellectuals to think about (say) first p...We need intellectuals to think about (say) first past the post elections. It was the failure of the intellectuals, at the time we drafted the Constitution, that we got into the problems that we face. We had a fabulous opportunity, in 1947, to put the nation on a sound path. By and large, the capabilities of the intelligensia (which dominated the drafting process) were weak. We now need to do better on the thinking.<br /><br />Yes, reforming the criminal justice system is difficult. That does not mean it can't be done. It will require thinking and strategising. There is popular outrage: Can it be channelled into achieving change?<br /><br />Are democracies capable of meaningful change? In my opinion, the answer is Yes, when the people have the resolve and when the wonks have the nuts and bolts worked out. When these two come together, we can get far-reaching change.<br /><br />The state of politics, in my book, is policy. Politics is itself the outcome of a bunch of texts: the Constitution, the IPC, the budgeting system, etc.<br />Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-83539370302471771672013-01-06T17:40:13.150+05:302013-01-06T17:40:13.150+05:30Sir, I think there is undue focus on intelligent p...Sir, I think there is undue focus on intelligent policy making, when the real issue is the Integrity of the State. We know many of the solutions, but the problem lies in their implementation. Of course, politicians are expected to respond to the ongoing changes,<br />because it would have electoral implications. So what's holding them back:<br />1. 'First past the post' system of election. Enough people have been kept poor for decades, and their dependence on state handouts creates potential for 'cash for votes' deals. <br />2. Majority of the lawmakers will either lose power or end up in jail, if criminal justice system is reformed, especially because, of late, more and more criminal elements have 'forward integrated' into the safe haven of politics. This is a huge barrier to change. The ultimate solution to this stalemate has to be a deal that provides immunity for past sins, in return for implementing progressive reforms. <br />The problem is: State of the Politics, not Policy. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-86651317610564191192013-01-05T20:21:17.089+05:302013-01-05T20:21:17.089+05:30I don't think Kejriwal is really saying that. ...I don't think Kejriwal is really saying that. The larger point is that I don't think Kejriwal's "solution" is cartoonish. He is offering the path of participatory democracy, rather than a solution. <br /><br />Probably I am belaboring, but politics is much more important in the real world than intellectualizing. We need more wonks, but we don't know how to get there. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-37134224019645105242013-01-05T20:12:09.803+05:302013-01-05T20:12:09.803+05:30You can watch several lectures on youtube if you s...You can watch several lectures on youtube if you search for "development economics". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-62619866881595511692013-01-04T17:59:07.111+05:302013-01-04T17:59:07.111+05:30Here are some definitions.
Ernest Hemingway was a...Here are <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=intellectual" rel="nofollow">some definitions</a>.<br /><br />Ernest Hemingway was an intellectual. Robert Jordan was not an intellectual. A wonderful man, a hero, someone to admire, but not an intellectual. A policy intellectual is someone who thinks about the world and thinks about how to fix it. Robert Jordan was a policy practitioner :)<br /><br />The word "intellectual" embeds praise. Hence, anyone who calls himself an intellectual is a wannabe.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-45489523464486244172013-01-04T15:35:11.038+05:302013-01-04T15:35:11.038+05:30Dear Vivek,
In the last paragraph above, you say ...Dear Vivek,<br /><br />In the last paragraph above, you say that in some cases, the use of computer technology can be used to convert discretion-intensive problems into non-discretionary problems. I agree! A version of this is in: <i>Improving governance using IT systems</i> by Ajay Shah, page 122-148, in `Documenting reforms: Case studies from India', edited by S. Narayan, Macmillan India, 2006. PDF at: http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah/PDFDOCS/Shah2006_big_it_systems.pdfAjay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-32405718026284026872013-01-04T09:55:12.590+05:302013-01-04T09:55:12.590+05:30What/who is an engineer? Isn't that a somewhat...What/who is an engineer? Isn't that a somewhat arrogant term to use?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-85062288803437110152013-01-04T09:52:36.191+05:302013-01-04T09:52:36.191+05:30I understand this now. The paper makes a distincti...I understand this now. The paper makes a distinction between cases where the govt doesn't want to solve the problem (for whatever reason) vs where they want to, but its a hard problem and then proceed to discuss when problems are hard, etc.<br /><br />So, the exit issue may not be an add-on criterion, but its a prerequisite in the sense that the politicians/elite/bureaucrats need to first of all own the problem and commit to it. You have mentioned that the govt needs to have better focus on public goods and commit to them, in terms of funding, etc. Intelligentsia need to focus on these issues instead of development econ, etc. So, I guess that commitment is a prerequisite before we can even begin to deal with the hardness of the problem. <br /><br />This article is so relevant because middle class people and Kejriwal, etc come up with 'cartoonish' solutions to wicked problems. But the people will very likely be assuaged by an improvement in the prerequisite issue of commitment level from the government. The problem is that the absence of clear articulation by the govt on their commitment and acceptance of responsibility creates a vacuum for people like Kejriwal to fill. We should atleast have the understanding across govt, elite, etc to solve this non-wicked prerequisite problem of focus on public goods. I guess that is where your welfare vs public goods argument comes in, and what buys votes, etc.<br /><br />-----<br /><br />On the hardness of problems:<br /><br />The hardness of the problem should not be a cop out for the govt, especially when the funding level is low. Its not sufficient to say something is hard. The question also should be how poor are we on the issue. There might be some minimum improvements that can be agreed upon by consensus, especially since we have only begun to increase the commitment level.<br /><br />Its interesting that the 2002 paper from Pritchett and Woolcock mentions that intensification, amputation or policy reform have often failed as a response to hard problems. I wonder if your R.H.Patil case is an example of policy reform measures which may not apply to other hard problems? Although strong police chiefs have been shown to be effective. I also found it interesting that Kejriwal proposes an intensification solution, much like the govt does itself. There doesn't seem to be much difference between them. Although, some policy intellectuals don't quite see this similarity and are contemptible of Kejriwal vis-a-vis the govt, when funnily, they are quite the same in their proposed solutions. Its not like Manmohan Singh is coming out and saying JLP is a bad solution, we instead need to do X. He's just arguing for his version of the JLP. Needles to say, thats quite pathetic.<br /><br />Lastly, the paper is from 2002 and surely we should be able to work from the conclusions of the paper to devise better ways of analyzing solutions across countries. And, there might well be such follow up work done already. This could just be a data science problem across countries, and a simple one at that (not a hard one!). Technology could be used to reduce or eliminate much of the problems due to having a lot of transactions and front line workers having discretion. This wouldn't even need to be cutting edge technology. In 2002, we may not have had the technology, but now we probably do.Viveknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-63747904380024461322013-01-03T19:05:59.847+05:302013-01-03T19:05:59.847+05:30What/who is a policy intellectual? Isn't it a ...What/who is a policy intellectual? Isn't it a somewhat arrogant term to use? Writing by Footstepshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10186406497212711172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-53811842097066019252013-01-03T10:33:59.108+05:302013-01-03T10:33:59.108+05:30What is the need for a "coal minister" ?...What is the need for a "coal minister" ? Or a "railway minister" ? And innumerable other ministers who dont really need to exist in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-74114996812679092612013-01-03T09:02:40.277+05:302013-01-03T09:02:40.277+05:30Dear Nandu, Agree completely. Most Indian laws are...Dear Nandu, Agree completely. Most Indian laws are badly drafted, particularly those that were written in recent decades. I hope you will be pleased at the level of thought and care that will go into the drafting of laws in <a href="http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.in/2012/10/approach-paper-released-by-financial.html" rel="nofollow">the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission</a>. Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-88075088576485762612013-01-03T09:00:13.324+05:302013-01-03T09:00:13.324+05:30Vivek, what Lant and Michael said in their World D...Vivek, what Lant and Michael said in their World Development article was: Can we identify <i>When it is hard to do something in government?</i>. Their idea was: Focus on two issues: Do you have a lot of transactions? Do front-line workers have discretion? When the two come together, it's hard.<br /><br />You're on a somewhat different point. You're saying: "When will the elite dig in and fight with a hard problem?" That takes us to exit. It's an important issue, but it's different from saying something is hard.Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-577743754345884972013-01-03T08:57:23.176+05:302013-01-03T08:57:23.176+05:30Priyank, this is an issue in all Westminster-type ...Priyank, this is an issue in all Westminster-type democracies, where cabinet members are drawn from the folks who won elections. In contrast, in the US, the cabinet is recruited with a focus on expertise. I think we have to treat this constraint as a given, though it can and should be debated in the context of writing a new Constitution.<br />Ajay Shahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835842741008200034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-700055254268696862013-01-02T18:54:23.962+05:302013-01-02T18:54:23.962+05:30One problem I see with the law-making process in I...One problem I see with the law-making process in India is that apart from a very high level policy declaration of intent, there is very little by way of next-action areas of work which should be covered in the enactment. It is left to the executive to convert the law into regulations, programmes and projects, which together should finally change the situation on the ground. Many a time, the executive lacks the expertise to design these elements and allocate resources optimally. There is also no evaluation of laws passed and their impact. <br /><br />Many members of the Indian bureaucracy have been able to attend one/two year study programmes on public policy in leading universities abroad for the last few years, thanks to the generous government funding. Thus, the policy framework ought to start improving, if only the stakeholders start engaging in an open dialogue. This will require a cultural change within the bureaucracy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13371535344499506327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-7137005436847780652013-01-02T14:32:53.395+05:302013-01-02T14:32:53.395+05:30I think non-economists might misunderstand the ter...I think non-economists might misunderstand the term "development economics". And, I'm unsure of what it means 'exactly'. Perhaps, there can be a short definition + clarification (that the criticism does not imply being anti-development) on your website to which you can link to?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19649274.post-81394368388263617642013-01-02T14:19:21.487+05:302013-01-02T14:19:21.487+05:30What a fantastic article! I wonder if there's ...What a fantastic article! I wonder if there's the potential for a book on stock market reforms? Michael Lewis would have found a way to make it a bestseller? :)<br /><br />I'm glad that you identified the fact that politicians couldn't exit the system, when listing reasons for why airports were improved (Point 2 there). There's also the fact that they need to attract foreign investors (ie; bakras) and hence couldn't avoid improving the airport infra. The airport to five star hotel economy and infrastructure is on a completely different plane (no pun intended). However, I feel that you have neglected this reason in your subsequent discussions.<br /><br />For example; <br /><br />"Drawing on work by Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock, we should apply three tests to understand when doing something in government is hard: (a) Does a public service have a large number of transactions? (b) Do front line workers have discretion? (c) Are the stakes high?"<br /><br />Shouldn't there be a (d) can the elite and political class get the service elsewhere/outside the country, or in other words, exit the system for that service?<br /><br />This exiting the system business (especially in the massive scale) might be unique to India. <br /><br />Likewise, on this:<br />"Why are the policy intellectuals and politicians of India so weak on the questions that matter for India's future? There are two elements of an explanation. The first is money.... The second problem is development economics."<br /><br />The third is that the intellectuals and politicians have all been able to send their kids abroad to make up for the shortcomings in the domestic education system, and likewise for healthcare. Again, exiting the system. Another example on this theme: I've heard anecdotes of politicians refusing to go to a doctor because he is a "quota doctor". If they had to rely on domestic, public hospitals, they would at least think twice about the effect of reservation on healthcare quality. <br /><br />So, the question is what to do about this 'exiting the system' issue. Ofcourse, if I was thinking like Kejriwal, I would force politicians to use the public service, which would be another example of a cartoonish solution. But, I wonder what could actually be done about this...Viveknoreply@blogger.com