Introduction to electoral reforms

It is a well-worn cliché that ‘People get the leaders they deserve’. It perhaps hides and distorts as much as it reveals the real processes at work in a democracy. After all, the closely intermeshed network of agencies and institutions through which democracy is actualised may appear like an enigmatic labyrinth with too many closed doors. The electoral process, in a way, if we may paraphrase Foucault, ‘makes windows where there were once walls’. While other institutions of democracy may be difficult to penetrate and change for the common people, the key to its pinnacle in the form of the electoral process remains in the hands of masses. Herein lies the importance of the electoral process for democracy. Digging through the ruins of many a failed democracies and exploring the success of many others, it becomes obvious that the nitty-gritty of the electoral process could write the epitaph of democracy or infuse it with energy and vitality.

Just like currency in the economy, a political system is as valuable as people think it to be. Thus, the trust of the people or legitimacy is the foundation on which any democratic system works. Participation of people in the electoral process is a crucial element of the legitimacy enjoyed by a political system. The World is replete with examples where lack of participation of people in the electoral process has robbed the elected government of legitimacy and led to serious political crises in those countries. However, India has been an example of success in this aspect of democracy whether it be the implementation of the universal adult suffrage or bringing down the age of voting or a thriving participation in the institutions of local governance at Panchayat level. The recent round of general elections to the Lok Sabha has once again proved the strength of Indian democracy with the highest ever voting percentage since independence.

However, there are other elements of the electoral process which imbue meaning and value to the concept of democracy. Beyond the outer shell of democracy, defined by the electoral participation of people, there is an inner core which needs constant nurturing. It is self-evident that democracy can flourish only in an environment of openness, transparency, voluntary participation, freedom of ideas and personal liberty exercised without fear or inducement. The burden of ensuring such a system lies on the shoulders of the electoral process a country adopts. Apart from this, a strong democracy also requires the existence of robust institutions capable of safeguarding the fundamental values of democracy without getting sucked into the flux and flow of politics as it unfolds on the ground. Judiciary, Media and bureaucracy are among these institutions which invigorate and protect democracy not merely in its form but in terms of its real content also. It would be wrong to look at democracy simply as a given body of institutions and structures. It is actually a dynamic process which requires a constant infusion of new ideas and activities to reflect the aspirations of people. Democracy, as it were, is forever an unfinished project.

Electoral reforms, in the wider context of the need for the deepening of democracy, thus acquires a central position in this project. The reality remains that Indian democracy has a long way to go before it rids itself of the demons of deviancy. This has been articulated quite forcefully on public forums by our political leaders which is a source of hope. It underscores the urgent need to engage with the dark alleys of corruption, money power and crime that could poison the tree of democracy. No matter what, the country will have to dig dipper into its moral reserve to administer the right medicine, even if bitter, for this malaise. Only by confronting the fatal weaknesses of our valued political system headlong can we hope to evolve and protect the deep self of democracy that touches the lives of the weakest in society and works as the transformative elixir. Let’s have no doubt- People deserve this!