Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Public Goods, Elections, and the Poor
- 3 Power and the State
- 4 Measuring Electricity from Space
- 5 Democracy and Light
- 6 Lighting the Poor
- 7 Electrifying India
- 8 Conclusion
- Appendix Satellite-Derived Estimates of Electrification
- References
- Index
6 - Lighting the Poor
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Public Goods, Elections, and the Poor
- 3 Power and the State
- 4 Measuring Electricity from Space
- 5 Democracy and Light
- 6 Lighting the Poor
- 7 Electrifying India
- 8 Conclusion
- Appendix Satellite-Derived Estimates of Electrification
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
In the previous chapter, I demonstrated that democracies across the world provide electricity to a larger share of their populations than do autocracies. This is an especially important result for the developing world, where many wonder whether democracy is effective in contexts of high poverty and low state capacity. Although the results from the last chapter show that democracy leads to greater electricity provision in poor countries, does democracy actually benefit poor people? This chapter evaluates this question by comparing electricity provision in the poorest areas of countries across the developing world.
Poverty has long been a central concern of states. Charles Booth, who coined the idea of a poverty line in his groundbreaking 1889 study of poverty in London, defined the poor as those “living under a struggle to obtain the necessaries of life and make both ends meet, while the ‘very poor’ live in a state of chronic want.” For Booth, the persistence of abject poverty demanded public action by the state, and he was among the first proponents of a publicly funded social safety net. More than a century later, poverty alleviation efforts continue to accentuate the role of the state in providing public goods that communities and markets fail to deliver. Besley and Burgess (2002) argue that in poor countries where markets are weak, “vulnerable populations rely in large measure on state action for their survival” (1415). This means that the poor depend heavily on the state for basic public goods such as electricity, education, and health services.
Despite the high demand for public goods among the poor, it is far from obvious that the state will supply such goods to them. Clearly, poor areas have the highest need and greatest demand for public goods. However, the poor lack economic clout, contribute little to state revenues, and participate less actively in the political process.
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- Power and the VoteElections and Electricity in the Developing World, pp. 101 - 124Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015