The recent upheaval in the global economy and polity has challenged our received understanding about the way the world functions. The certitude of all political ideologies has been thoroughly undermined, which in turn has substantially changed the policy discourses. The debate on debt-fuelled growth led by the state and the private sector and the structural and social consequences of that is wide open. The contemporary economic structure has been found to increase inequality without generating substantial employment or an increase in real wages. It is vulnerable to periodic crises. The need for an effective regulation of the economy and the markets has been echoed around the globe. The problem of poverty and a low level of human development are worryingly still present before us.

In absence of any substantial policy intervention, governments have the propensity to resort to populism. Beyond such short-sighted populist policies, there has been a renewed concern for redistributive justice and a search for innovative and constitutionally guaranteed social welfare policies. This also calls for a better institutional design and capacity to govern and deliver. Attempts are being made to reconcile equity and efficiency within this new governance structure. The challenge before the policymakers and public leaders in India is to find solutions to the problems within the framework of the Constitution and to defend the democratic values, and to resist authoritarian impulses in an attempt to ‘catch up’ with certain less democratic countries.

The MA in Public Policy programme has been designed with an intention to equip the future policymakers and public leaders to face this increasingly complex policy environment.