Welcome to the Democratic Governance and Policymaking course! In this course, you will learn that all citizens collectively desire public goods such as justice, peace, and welfare, but beyond their individual means. A state is a politically organized society to fulfill citizens’ public good needs. Politics is an activity in pursuit of the collective interests of the citizens. Policymaking is a collective action to identify, adequately provide, and equitably allocate desired public goods. However, arriving at a collective choice on who gets what, when, and how much, and who decides and how, faces joint action problems. This often leads to a policy gap between citizens’ preferences and policy provision, resulting in a loss of well-being. Governance in policymaking is about providing stewardship to these collective efforts through institutional mechanisms to minimize the policy gap. Democracy in governance is about the active participation of citizens, directly or indirectly, at all stages of policymaking.

Democratic Governance and Policymaking
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What you'll learn
Explain the challenges in public good provision in a complex heterogeneous society using the policy gap framework.
Acquire insights on pathways linking citizen participation with effective policymaking and appreciate its limitations.
Develop the ability to engage in an informed way in discourses on governance issues.
Develop empirical approaches to measure democratic governance and its determinants.
Details to know

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September 2025
29 assignments
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There are 7 modules in this course
Build toward a degree
This course is part of the following degree program(s) offered by O.P. Jindal Global University. If you are admitted and enroll, your completed coursework may count toward your degree learning and your progress can transfer with you.¹
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Status: PreviewO.P. Jindal Global University
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