TAF PUBLISHING

From a centralized state, Nepal adopted federalism in 2015 and local level elections were held in 2017, after twenty years since the last local election. In this light, this study aims to explore how alternative theories and models of rural community development could operate in the new system. An extensive review of literature on this field was done to understand the focal concepts and their relationships. It was followed by document analysis to contextualize these concepts by understanding local governments' local systems and settings in Nepal. This research suggests that heterogeneity in Nepalese communities has had its effects on social capital accumulation and effective participation. It also found that the lack of meaningful interaction between marginalized rural communities and public institutions has limited their economic opportunities and development capacity. However, with institutional arrangements of inclusive representation, affirmative action, and other policy measures adopted in the new system of governance as guaranteed by the new constitution's provisions, foundations have been laid to increase the stock of bridging social capital and promote community action. Furthermore, with the emergence of new leaders elected in the local level election of 2017 and other informal community leaderships, a 'mediating agency' is identified to link communities and public institutions and mobilize local assets to create economic opportunities through their linking ties.