Implementation across national boundaries: Implementing the Government of India Act 1935

Borooah, Vidya (1986). Implementation across national boundaries: Implementing the Government of India Act 1935. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000de58

Abstract

This thesis examines decisions made in one country and implemented in another. Implementation of such decisions is explored principally by means of a case study of implementation, namely implementation of the Government of India Act, 1935, passed by the British Parliament that year. The first chapter shows, that decision-making literature, in the field of international relations, has concentrated on the process by which decisions are arrived at, while implementation of such decisions has been largely neglected. Where implementation has been dealt with in the literature, it can be organised in terms of two models. A third model of implementation which describes better the implementation process, and a number of propositions about implementation derived from the existing literature are put forward. The model and propositions are tested against the case study. The method adopted is one of using case studies to build theory. The implementation of three decisions within the 1935 Act is examined; the first dealt with division of revenues between the centre and the provinces; the second, the grant of autonomy to the provinces; and the third, the establishment of an all-India federation to include both, the princely states and the provinces of British India. The model and the propositions guide the analysis of the case studies, though these are not rigidly structured in order to allow the idiosyncratic aspects of each case to be taken into account. The period having been thoroughly examined by historians, mainly secondary sources were used, though some primary material, not fully examined by historians till now, was used in the first case study. The first two decisions were implemented, while the third was not, and a comparison between the three cases is made in the concluding chapter. The chapter examines the evidence for the model and for the propositions that was found in the case studies. Comparison of the three cases enables conclusions to be drawn about factors that are conducive to successful implementation, and those that are antithetical to implementation.