Winds of change set to sweep through Bretton Woods
Developing countries are the sole market of the World Bank. But they collectively have only around 38% of its voting rights. All this is set to change, with developing nations set to get more representation and power. An exclusive report
Unhappy highways: Economic growth, technology and alienation
Economic growth and technology may increase access to comforts, but may also induce a new individuation and social disintegration, says John Samuel
In praise of political parties
Political parties are crucial for the vitality of a democracy. But across the world, political parties have been reduced to mere electoral mechanisms, networks to capture power, says John Samuel
The prince, the priest and the merchant
We the people are supposed to be in charge of the modern manifestations of power. But are we? The secular democratic process is only the old Prince-Priest-Merchant nexus in disguise, says John Samuel
The delusions of power: Beauty and the beast
Everything small is beautiful these days. NGOs, busy with micro finance and micro politics for the poor, are small, beautiful -- and powerless. Meanwhile, the beast of markets and States can continue to dominate macro economics and politics. This neat division into micro and macro sustains the unjust power relationships that perpetuate impoverishment, inequality and injustice, says John Samuel
The limits of judicial activism
Today, everything from river pollution to the selection of the cricket team has become the purview of judicial activism. Is it time to put the genie back in the bottle and confine the courts' public interest jurisdiction to its original purpose of ensuring justice to the poor and exploited?
Towards a dollar democracy?
Nandan Nilekani recently said that a city like Bangalore that contributes 60% of a state's GDP should have more than 7% of the state assembly seats. Nilekani and others are in effect arguing for a dollar democracy, where one rupee will count for one vote, rather than one person
Man does not live by bread alone
Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness, like E F Schumacher's concept of Buddhist economics, Hazel Henderson's compassionate economics, and the modern measure of Happy Life Years, is a recognition that progress is inextricably linked not with material growth or financial gain but with the absence of suffering or samsara. Darryl D'Monte reports from the world's last Shangri-La
Towards democratic governance
The people must reclaim the institutions of governance: questions need to be asked, policies need to be monitored, rights need to be claimed and accountability needs to be asserted
Preconditions for an empowered India
What are the enabling conditions for the empowerment of a billion people?