Government by the People

We are deemed to live in a democracy, but a democratic spirit is conspicuously absent. Of course there is change of guard in the government through some sort of elections; but elections are only an instrument of democracy; they do not neccessarily imply democracy. If elections are flawed, the result may be disastrous. That is what we witness now. There is only a shift of the clique in power, they snatch power by all means and use it as they like. Why does such a thing happen? Because people in general are prone to abdicate their power. They are interested only in a government supposed to be for the people. Clique after clique anchors the people in that opinion, saying: 'we have done that for you, we are going to do this for your welfare.'

If at all they do anything everyone forgets the main issue: whose money do they use? Obviously with people's money, Those who pay direct taxes know it; indirect taxes are paid by all, even the poor, but no one is conscious of the payment. Once this is realized it will become clear that the government is not a sort of providence; they are only spending the people's money at their discretion.

Forgetting that they are the source of all power and of public money, people place their confidence on the elected lot in the naive hope that the government will work for their welfare. They are doomed to be deceived; those who have acquired power in a tough battle will naturally look after their own interest first. People should realize this simple truth : there can be governance for the people only by a government by the people; in fact democracy means government by the people.

Therefore, giving up the idea of a providential government, people should assume the responsibility of • self-governance. Of course, people cannot take charge of all the operations of government, they have to delegate their power to some representatives. There lies the real difficulty of democracy. Competent and reliable representatives have to be elected with utmost care. People should never forget that government action is taken on their behalf, that if it is bad they have to blame only themselves. That state of mind is essential for the emergence of democracy. When an important issue arises, which did not appear in any of the election manifestoes, the people should organize debates on it and make their opinion known in one way or the other. The stand taken by the representatives at the stage of voting should also be made known to the people.

Selection of proper representatives implies first, the full participation of the people in the electoral process. This is found lacking and such absence of interest in self-governance constitutes ari impediment in the democratic process. Abstentions in our country is to the tune of 40%. This has to be brought down considerably. Political scientists should find out the causes of abstentions, measure the impact of each cause and recommend corrective measures. Pending that exercise, the following steps are suggested:

— requiring the abstentionists to send a letter of apology to the presiding officer of the polling station;

— removal from the voters list of those who abstained twice consecutively without explanation, with restoration on demand;

— polling stations to be placed at a walking distance even in thinly populated areas;

— handicapped and old people be given the opportunity to vote by correspondence, or in mobile ballot boxes which will go from house to house, etc ...

Electoral Reforms

The present system of elections allows a person who has secured the largest number of votes to be declared elected. This appears at first sight sound. But when there are several candidates in the fray, one gets elected even with 15% of votes, that is 9% of electors on the rolls. In some cases the party which secured a lower number of votes obtains a larger number of seats. A party securing only 30% of votes, that is, the support of 20% of electors on the rolls, finds it possible to form the government. Such a government has of course no representative character and lacks legitimacy and authority.

When we consider elections to the House of the People, each ward has ten lakh voters. The voters have no possibility of knowing the candidates. They vote for the party or its leader; candidates are mere puppets. Therefore the proportional system appears to be the best suited. The real picture of the electorate will get reflected in the House.

For State assemblies the present system may be continued with requirement of 50% of votes of persons on the rolls for being elected and repoll otherwise. Parties should be required to present candidates in all the constituencies. If parties form alliances, such alliances should have a name, a common programme, a common symbol and be treated as a party for all purposes for the duration of the legislature.

Another defect of the present system is the emergence of a caste of politicians who choose politics as a prosperous career and who are tempted to consider the State as their private property. Of course they have acquired some experience, but they are no longer normal citizens, they have lost contact with co-citizens, they are surrounded only by sycophants; they are unable to feel problems as citizens do. Lacking public support and eager to continue in power they are unable to take hard decisions which are necessary for the future of the nation; they allow entrenched vested interests to suck the resources of the nation. It is therefore necessary to put an end to continuously holding a position of power. It would be wise to prescribe that a person who is a representative of the people will not be politicians because it allows them to act or to abstain from acting without involving responsibility. That list should be first abolished,

It is generally agreed that there is too much concentration of power in the hands of the Union government, that the local bodies are not allowed to play their role; yet it is at that level that democracy may thrive more easily. So a new distribution of powers should be organized. For such re-arrangement the following suggestions are made:

— All that can be done by the local body should vest in it

— All that has necessarily to be done by the Union government should be in their hands.

— The rest should go to the States.
Elections should be held separately for the local bodies, the State assembly and the House of the People, so that each time relevant issues are clear in the mind of candidates and ' voters. It is that confluence of mind between the two which makes democracy.