H ow do I begin this tribute to American political scientist James C Scott? Though I admire part of his diagnostics, I disagree with his prescri

An American helped IAS officers like me ask the right questions—why James Scott is important

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2024-10-26 13:30:03

H ow do I begin this tribute to American political scientist James C Scott? Though I admire part of his diagnostics, I disagree with his prescription and prognosis. With a 36-year career as an Indian civil servant, I do not share his inherent distrust of the State and his “two cheers for anarchism”. However, his writings have helped me understand the “origin and working of the State” and listen to “the voices of protest” outside formal representative platforms. Scott has certainly helped me tone down “my own hubris as a zealous administrator” and made me realise that “marginal farmers, industrial workers and even those who work in brick kilns” cannot be treated as “passive beneficiaries, waiting for deliverance by an altruistic NGO patron or a conscientious officer of the paternalistic state” but are “active participants who negotiate rational choices based on an empirical risk assessment calculus”.

As the ex-director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy Of Administration (LBSNAA), the top civil services training institution in India, and as an academic council member of the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), I am convinced that good governance is not only desirable but also eminently possible. Moreover, I believe that fierce electoral contests in India’s three-tier democracy have actually given us a fairly robust strategy for maintaining and improving livelihoods, food security, and social empowerment.