ABSTRACT

Everyday administrative practices are relatively understudied in research on illiberalism and authoritarianism. This article addresses this gap to account for the neoliberalist and technopopulistic motivations that support illiberal and authoritarian practices in a weak rule of law context. Using narrative analysis, it interprets the role of beliefs and desires of politico-administrative actors in facilitating such actions in the context of India’s public sector digitalisation. This article elaborates how the instrumental rationalities embedded into the design of digitalised policies and their practices at various levels of analysis can erode voluntariness and privacy as well as undercut democratic accountability. This article makes a case for recentering the democratic ethos in designing and implementing digitalised policy regimes to ensure everyday administrative practices are aligned with the need to avoid the infringement of individual freedoms and democratic accountability.

摘要

在对非自由主义和威权主义的研究中，日常行政实践的研究相对不足。本文解决了这一差距，以解释在法治薄弱的背景下支持非自由主义和威权主义做法的新自由主义和技术民粹主义动机。它使用叙事分析，解释了政治行政行为者的信念和愿望在印度公共部门数字化背景下促进此类行动的作用。本文阐述了嵌入数字化政策设计的工具理性及其在不同分析层面的实践如何侵蚀自愿性和隐私，并削弱民主问责制。