Bureaucracy unbound? The end of dominant party rule and the politics-administration interface in West Bengal

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe end of dominant party rule is a fraught moment for political-bureaucratic relations in developing countries, with critical implications for public service delivery. This article examines political change in the state of West Bengal in eastern India, where a coalition of left-wing parties was deposed from power in 2011 by a populist opposition after 34 years of uninterrupted rule. The “change” party in West Bengal has not only avoided bureaucratic instability, public officials were successfully mobilized to increase the flow of public services. I argue that this anomaly can be explained by incorporating two variables whose effects have been under-theorized in existing research – the nature of the political mandate against the erstwhile dominant party and the organizational structures of the alternation party. More specifically, I argue that the electoral disintegration of the Left and the populist orientation of the new ruling party were crucial in producing a framework for cooperative political-bureaucratic relations. In the long run, however, as the frequently insufficient quality of these services indicate, only a programmatic mode of party politics can deliver lasting citizen satisfaction.