Section Archive

Governance

Institutions, democracy, law, power, and how states actually function.

The Rafale deal is not an overpayment for hardware. It is a strategic trade-off to secure India's future as a global aerospace power.

Arjun Mehta · 5 March 2026 · 8 min read

Can air power alone change a regime's character and orientation? The seductive mirage of precision violence.

Arjun Mehta · 4 March 2026 · 6 min read

From generalist administrators to specialist lateral entrants — and why this shift will define India's state capacity for a generation.

NAM Editorial · 28 February 2026 · 6 min read

The hidden costs of pushing administrative burdens onto underfunded local municipal bodies that lack both funds and authority.

NAM Editorial · 27 February 2026 · 5 min read

Parliaments are becoming performative. The real business of lawmaking has shifted to rulewriters, executive orders, and administrative tribunals.

NAM Editorial · 11 February 2026 · 7 min read

The outsourcing of policy planning to global consultancies has eroded the state's internal capacity to think and act.

Arjun Mehta · 3 February 2026 · 7 min read

How party discipline and camera-ready grandstanding have turned our legislatures from halls of deliberation into empty stages.

Arjun Mehta · 23 January 2026 · 8 min read

Why outsourcing contentious social disputes to regulatory tribunals and courts has hollowed out the democratic consensus.

Arjun Mehta · 17 January 2026 · 8 min read