Recognising the processes of social marginalisation to which they were subjected, some patients found rhetorical power in their disadvantaged position. They used asylum periodicals to challenge the distinction between sanity and insanity, evoke sympathy and better understanding, and foster a sense of solidarity among fellow inmates across institutions. These sentiments found their clearest expression in Excelsior (1857–1878), the publication of the James Murray Royal Asylum in Perth, Scotland. Though edited by the physician superintendent, William Lauder Lindsay, this periodical was especially militant in its attack on the misrepresentation of mental illness and keen to cultivate a sense of an existing tradition of lunatic literature and a cross-institutional imagined community of patients. This chapter assesses the successes and failures of this mission. Despite tensions and antagonism behind the scenes, it argues that Excelsior was a space where the clashing voices of different actors could be reconciled and united around the common goal of representing the asylum and its inhabitants before the outside world.

This chapter turns to the forces of unity that drove patients’ publishing projects, focusing on the role of asylum periodicals in construing and maintaining real and imagined communities within and beyond the asylum. Producing and consuming periodicals brought together various actors with distinct skill sets, enabling, to a degree, transgression of the institutional boundaries that otherwise kept different groups of patients separated. This transgression fed into the representation of the asylum community as a family on the pages of asylum periodicals, reenforcing the institutionally imposed family model, according to which patients were ascribed the role of children under the care and protection of a father-like superintendent and a motherly matron. However, asylum periodicals show not only the manifestation of this framework’s application but patients’ active engagement with these symbols. Finally, the chapter explores former inmates’ continuous involvement in asylum periodicals, suggesting that some patients formed lasting and meaningful connections during their stay in mental institutions and relied on the asylum for support during their reintegration into society.

The chapter completes my discussion of the inception of periodical publishing in asylums, by examining the histories of two of the first asylum periodicals published in America and Britain and their patient-founders: Barber Badger’s Retreat Gazette (Hartford Retreat in Connecticut, 1837) and John Reid Adam’s Chronicles of the Monastery (Glasgow Royal Asylum, 1842). It shows that the histories of early asylum periodicals were tightly intertwined with their founders’ fates, which was the major reason for the publications’ comparatively short runs. Furthermore, these founders were all patients with printing skills or, in the case of Adam, literary aspirations and willingness to learn, and the opportunity to print in the asylum played an important role in their lives and professional careers: for Badger, it was a way to continue providing for his family, while for Adam, institutionalisation constituted an apprenticeship that eventually enabled them to pursue a career in publishing beyond their discharge. Asylum periodicals allowed patients to apply their existing skills or gain new ones in the pursuit of their own aspirations and personal interests.

Chapter 1 introduces the key concepts of the book, lays out the main argument, and discusses the empirical approach and data used in later chapters. It emphasizes that variation in governance outcomes cannot be understood without examining the incentives and interactions of politicians, bureaucrats, and voters. Ultimately, I argue that politicians in developing democracies have incentives to hire competent bureaucrats but will simultaneously retain tools to influence their career progression. Using tools of career control – interference in bureaucrats’ promotions, work locations, and day-to-day work tasks – politicians can extract bureaucratic loyalty. The introduction also situates the book within existing scholarship. The empirical strategy combines qualitative interviews, survey experiments, and observational data, largely drawn from Ghana but supplemented with comparative insights. Ultimately, the chapter frames the book as an inquiry into how the competing incentives of politicians and bureaucrats shape governance.

Chapter 6 shifts from procurement to the spatial allocation of local public goods, examining how partisan considerations shape the placement of infrastructure in communities. It begins by outlining the formal planning processes, in which bureaucrats are expected to design allocations based on community needs. However, interviews and prior research reveal frequent deviations from these plans, often driven by political pressure. Using data from Ghana’s Central Region, the chapter shows a strong correlation between the ruling party’s prior vote share and the number of projects a community receives. At the same time, the analysis highlights the role of need: poorer communities are more likely to secure projects than wealthier ones. These patterns suggest a dual influence – politicians seek to reward co-partisan communities, while bureaucrats attempt to prioritize developmental considerations. To probe this further, the chapter employs a survey experiment across eighty local governments. Results confirm that bureaucrats perceive both partisanship and need as influential, but partisan alignment often outweighs need in determining outcomes. The evidence thus reveals a tug-of-war between politicians and bureaucrats, with distributive outcomes shaped by the balance of partisan incentives and bureaucratic resistance. This politicization of allocation ultimately undermines equitable and efficient public service delivery.

Chapter 4 examines how politicians’ ability to influence bureaucrats’ careers creates opportunities for corruption in public procurement. Drawing on surveys and interviews with bureaucrats across local governments in Ghana, it finds that nearly half of bureaucrats believe procurement contracts are awarded uncompetitively, often in exchange for party financing. These perceptions highlight the vulnerability of procurement processes to partisan manipulation. A key mechanism through which politicians secure bureaucratic compliance is career control, particularly the threat of geographic transfers. Bureaucrats who resist corrupt demands risk reassignment to less desirable locations, a sanction that can disrupt both professional advancement and personal lives. Evidence from a survey experiment underscores this fear: bureaucrats anticipate that opposing corruption would trigger punitive transfers. By focusing on career management as a channel of influence, the chapter contributes to broader debates on bureaucratic autonomy and political interference. It also demonstrates that corruption is not merely the result of bureaucrats’ individual incentives but of institutionalized practices that bind bureaucrats’ careers to politicians’ partisan strategies.

Kumud's story begins in a small village in Maharashtra, where life was defined by poverty and struggle. She does not remember her exact age, but piecing together timelines—like her arrival at G. B. Road in 1980 and the assassination of Indira Gandhi—suggests she is about 59 now. The pivotal events of her life are often marked by phrases like ‘When Indira1 died …’, a moment she uses to anchor her memories.

Kumud grew up in a family of nine children—five boys and four girls— where the burden of survival left little room for dreams. Her formal education ended in the 3rd grade. Her life took a dramatic turn when a woman from her village approached her father with an offer. ‘With so many daughters, why not entrust the youngest to me? I will take care of her,’ the woman suggested. And so, Kumud's journey to Delhi began.

At just 13, Kumud found herself living in the brothels under the care of this woman, whom she called Didi. Didi ran a brothel, and although Kumud initially played the role of a brothel caretaker/helper—running errands, accompanying sex workers to the hospital, and managing daily operations—she eventually expressed her desire to work on G. B. Road. ‘I have lived in every kotha,’ she says with a mixture of pride and resignation. ‘I followed my Didi everywhere.’

Her stories are a patchwork of raids, arrests, beatings, debts, and moments of laughter. One particular incident in 2015 stands out starkly.