Abstract: Informal methods are viewed as the modal way to resolve grievances in the Global South. This talk takes seriously how formal grievance redressal systems are used by hundreds of thousands of people to report grievances. It argues and shows that the existence of both formal and informal grievance redressal pathways means that constituents, politicians, and bureaucrats use these systems for all manner of grievances, even though they often lack confidence that grievance resolution will occur. The analysis relies on newly collected data from hundreds of thousands of constituent grievances and responses and decades of politicians’ meeting minutes from a diverse group of eight municipal corporations in India, and qualitative interviews with hundreds of corporators from dozens of Indian cities. Practitioners may wish to consider how the formal grievance redressal landscape, made increasingly ubiquitous by e-governance technology, impacts the quality of public services delivered.
Speaker Bio-sketch: Dr William O’Brochta is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas Lutheran University and Director of Professional Development for the American Political Science Association Civic Engagement Section. His work on representation and political behavior in the Global South has been published in the British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Governance, and Political Studies, among other outlets. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.