A 2022 book argues that the only effective responses to government or market deficiencies come from civil society. When society is “malfunctioning” – for example, owing to deep polarization or fragmentation – that response mechanism is disrupted, and can even stop working altogether.
MILAN – How to strike the right balance between the state and the market, and ensure the proper functioning of both, has been debated for centuries. But Indian author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani offers an answer that focuses on neither. As the title of her 2022 book, Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar (Society, State, Markets): A Citizen-First Approach, suggests, society comes first.
For Nilekani, a stable, well-functioning, and inclusive society is essential, first, as an end in itself. But it is also crucial for another reason: a healthy civil society is a prerequisite to effective governance and beneficial market outcomes. As she explains, the state and markets carry out important functions but are vulnerable to errors, imbalances, inefficiencies, and failures, such as capture by special interests. This can result in myriad problems, from rising inequality to shortfalls in the provision of public goods.
That is where society comes in. According to Nilekani, the only effective responses to government or market deficiencies come from civil society, including the values, relationships, and organizations that underpin it. When society is “malfunctioning” – for example, owing to deep polarization or fragmentation – that response mechanism is disrupted, and can even stop working altogether.
MILAN – How to strike the right balance between the state and the market, and ensure the proper functioning of both, has been debated for centuries. But Indian author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani offers an answer that focuses on neither. As the title of her 2022 book, Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar (Society, State, Markets): A Citizen-First Approach, suggests, society comes first.
For Nilekani, a stable, well-functioning, and inclusive society is essential, first, as an end in itself. But it is also crucial for another reason: a healthy civil society is a prerequisite to effective governance and beneficial market outcomes. As she explains, the state and markets carry out important functions but are vulnerable to errors, imbalances, inefficiencies, and failures, such as capture by special interests. This can result in myriad problems, from rising inequality to shortfalls in the provision of public goods.
That is where society comes in. According to Nilekani, the only effective responses to government or market deficiencies come from civil society, including the values, relationships, and organizations that underpin it. When society is “malfunctioning” – for example, owing to deep polarization or fragmentation – that response mechanism is disrupted, and can even stop working altogether.