This analysis examines what the ubiquitous presence of political "brokers" who mediate many people's access to state institutions reveals about the Indian state and the complex causes of corruption in Indian public life. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Bihar since 2002, it reveals the role of brokers within both village power relations and the larger political system. This analysis implies that, in addition to the institutional reforms that are currently at the centre of public debate, tackling corruption in everyday state administration would require wide-reaching sociopolitical transformations and massive investments in basic state capacity.
