Democratization from Above

'The logic of politics trumps economic advantages in explaining when and how democracy arises at the local level. Scholars and policymakers interested in decentralization reforms and deepening democracy would do well to heed the motivations driving national leaders that Bohlken demonstrates with the help of careful research.' Anirudh Krishna, Duke University, North Carolina 'Democratization from Above represents a significant advance in our understanding of local democratization and democratic reversals. In tackling the question of why some government elite pursue and support local-level democratization while others neglect or actively undermine local democracy, Bohlken manages to both advance political science theory and also shed new light on puzzles specific to India. In doing so she convincingly demonstrates that local democracy cannot be understood as simply a by-product of national democracy.' Allen Hicken, University of Michigan 'For billions of people around the world, local governments are far more relevant to their daily lives than their national leaders. But the design of these local governments varies considerably with meaningful consequences for citizens. Combining original cross-national data and detailed country-level case studies, Bohlken explains how democracy can be deepened and why such reforms matter for national politics.' Irfan Nooruddin, Al Thani Chair in Indian Politics and Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, and author of Elections in Hard Times (Cambridge, 2016)