Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES:
I. Introduction………………………………..... Day 1: What is democracy, and why is it
…………………….….3 something to measure? Students read
II. Lessons statements by Indian
1. What is Democracy citizens, and work to identify the critical
2. How Does Democracy Work attributes and potential obstacles to
3. Democracy in India democracy.
Democracy has achieved the status of a Day 2: Students compare the practice of
universal good, considered to be such the democracy in India with the goals for
ultimate expression democracy identified by
of human political will (when combined with a the 2000 Warsaw Declaration on Democracy.
robust free-market) that some political Day 3: Students create a scorecard for Indian
scientists heralded democracy using the Indian constitution and
the United States’ victory in the Cold War as almanac
the “end of history.” Yet the practice of information.
democracy Days 4-5: Students conduct research on recent
is hardly so clearly defined. Recent years have elections and issues using Indian newspapers
witnessed violent plebiscites in East Timor, available on
difficult the Internet.
post-war nation building in Kuwait, Yugoslavia Day 6: Students use their research to prepare
and Afghanistan, chaotic lurches between an evaluation of Indian democracy
dictatorship Day 7: Students conduct a democracy
and democracy in Venezuela and Peru, and conference to present their findings and make
charges of fraud and vote-counting mayhem recommendations
even in an for the future.
American presidential election. Clearly, Introduction
students expected to appreciate the virtues of Democracy in India 3
democracy must Goal: The purpose of today’s lesson is to
be challenged to define its nature more prompt students to identify what they already
precisely. Through this unit, students will know about the ideal of democracy and to
encounter multiple raise questions about how democracy is
perspectives on the practice of democracy in actually
the world’s most populous and diverse practiced.
democracy, India, Materials: Reading A, Reading B, and Reading
and will create a system by which to evaluate C (Descriptions of Democratic Practice in India
the practice of democracy around the world. to be
The unit is distributed to one-third of the students.)
written with enough background information Warm-up Activity
that it can be used within either a unit on India Begin the first day by prompting students to
or a unit identify what they already know about
on political systems. democracy. After they
OBJECTIVES: have provided a basic definition, present the
· To identify the components necessary for the following quote by Winston Churchill:
effective practice of democracy; “Democracy is a bad
· To identify the various perspectives within a system but infinitely better than any of the
democracy on the goals and issues facing the alternatives.” As a class, brainstorm what
nation; Churchill might have
· To read and use primary source documents to meant by this. What are the alternatives? Why
build content knowledge; might somebody consider democracy “infinitely
· To practice the critical reading of newspaper better?”
articles to reveal perspectives and biases; Why might democracy still be considered a
· To engage in an authentic process of “bad system?”
evaluating the practice of democracy in order Explain that the purpose of this unit is to
to chart a course define how democracy works in reality so that
for future improvements; we might better
· To recognize obstacles to democracy in India understand how the practice of democracy
as an example for democracies around the around the world can be strengthened. Doing
world. so is in
everybody’s interest: history shows that Banners are hung across every street. Posters
strong, mature democracies have never are hung on every inch of space. Loudspeakers
instigated wars of aggression blare
against other countries. We will use India as campaign slogans constantly, even though new
our sample country because it faces a huge laws were passed that say that the
array of loudspeakers must be
challenges that help to provide lessons for lowered to a certain decibel and must be
most countries in the world. It’s the largest turned off at 10 pm. Every party holds huge
democracy in the rallies for their
world, in which elections take a week to supporters and often distributes food or
administer, sixteen official languages are blankets to everyone who attends.
spoken, and the population Things have improved a lot in the last 10
is marked by deep religious, economic, social years. The key to the change has been
and cultural divisions. awareness. Everybody
Lesson is very interested in the news, and they
Distribute the three introduction readings, discuss political issues (and movie stars)
giving Reading A, Reading B and Reading C constantly. When
each to a third of the people are illiterate, often one person who can
class. Explain that each of these provides a read will read the newspaper out loud to a
young Indian citizen’s perspective on the group and then
practice of democracy. they discuss the issues. Every newspaper,
When students are done reading, form groups even in rural areas, contains a lot of news
of three in which each student has read one of about the rest of the
the world, not just local news. The most important
readings. Instruct the partners first to tell each factor that helps awareness, of course, is the
other about what they read and then to make television. In
a comprehensive our state, Tamil Nadu, for example, the
list of examples from the readings for two government ordered that every village must
categories: 1) Examples of democratic practice have at least one
(we’ll call television. People in these rural villages can
these “critical attributes” of democracy, and watch programs in their own regional
they might include participation in voting, free languages. Political
speech demonstrations, parties know how important television is, and
multiple parties and candidates, etc.) and 2) most have created their own cable TV stations.
Obstacles to democracy (aspects of political Even though local politicians and their
activity supporters can sound very extreme, India has
seen in the Indian examples that might many systems
interfere with the free and fair practice of in place to make sure that the most powerful
democracy, such as illiteracy, leaders are more moderate. This helps to bring
social divisions, etc.). people together
When the partners have finished, call on pairs because no group feels shut out even though
to report, using their examples to compile on their party may not be in power. For example,
the board a the
master class list of critical attributes and members of the Upper House of Parliament are
obstacles that can be used by the next time not politicians at all! Instead, they are writers,
the class meets. doctors,
Lesson 1: What is Democracy? engineers, poets – respected people in society
Democracy in India 4 – who are nominated by the parties, not
Democracy in India 5 elected by the
Nallakkan S. Arvind and Shohini Ghosh are people. The President of India is the Speaker
both graduate students in Chemistry at the of the Upper House. Although he does not have
University of much
Washington. Both grew up in the city of power, compared to the Prime Minister, he is
Madras, although Shohini is originally from the Commander in Chief of the military
Calcutta. Here The most difficult aspect of democracy in India
they describe how elections are held in India. is the caste system. The caste system is a
India during election times is like no other ranking of
place in the world. The whole look of a city
changes.
traditional, hereditary levels in society that her), exercising one’s franchise [right to vote]
have determined a person’s occupation and has assumed the aura of a sacred duty. And he
role in Hindu society performs it
for thousands of years. At the lowest level are with almost the same solemnity as the rituals
the Untouchables, who are generally the of a religious ceremony. The act demands
poorest people and careful preparations,
hold the dirtiest jobs, making them including, usually, a set of the new clothes so
“untouchable” to others. Even though it’s precious to villagers, which may have been
illegal now in India to discriminate originally set aside
according to caste, family background is still for a religious festival. And a bath of ritual
very important in India, especially in the rural purification, on par with the one you take
areas. before going to a
Printed with permission of the authors. temple, is absolutely mandatory. “People here
Reading A: think it’s a sacred duty,” affirms Thakkar
Indian Students Describe Elections in Charan Giri, 72, a
India retired clerk from the Orissa Revenue Board,
Democracy in India 6 who has made it a point to get to the polling
Reading B: booth in his
Voting in the Villages village of Olinda the moment it opens for
By five in the morning on June 15, Savitri Giri business in every election right from
had finished her cooking and put her house in Independence. “Of course,
order. they don’t exactly do a puja [Hindu prayers] or
And by the time the rest of the family were anything like that, but the affair is not very
stirring, she had bathed and donned a new different from a
sari, freshly starched. religious occasion.”
Nothing eye-catching by urban standards, but But not all go through the ritual purification. In
in Chalanti village of Balasore district, Orissa, it his house about 1 km from the Olinda booth,
stood out, 86-
vivid and beautiful even among the bunting year-old Arjun Rana, who has also been voting
and flowers put up for the festival. When we right from our first general election, is feeling
reached the village almost guilty
about 10 km from the nearest town of because he can’t take a bath. At his age and
Jaleshwar at 7 a.m., Giri was already setting with the monsoons setting in, the cold water
up a small altar at the could well kill
foot of the tree in her courtyard, decorating it him. “A rubdown with oil will have to do,” he
with ritual patterns of flowers and vermilion. says gloomily, but then perks up: “At least I’ll
Despite the importance of this local festival of be casting my
the new moon, however, she was hurrying vote. That’s the real point, isn’t it?” Having
through her identified the point, he decides to exercise the
devotions like thousands of other women in the prerogative of
neighboring villages. For this year, a [religious] age and dispense with his new shirt: “What will
festival an old man like me want with a shirt?” It is
threatens to overshadow the [secular] general more fitting that
elections. “Yes, it’s festival day, but I have to he sees that his family of 12 makes it to the
somehow make booth in time, for it is criminal to let a vote go
time to go to the booth,” says Giri. “How will a to waste. His
government be formed otherwise? Besides, sons, who are party workers, have already
this is one day gone. Now it remains for the womenfolk to eat
when us small people get to play kingmakers. and bathe
My vote will determine whether a hopeful gets before they are ready to vote, according to the
to rule or not. dictates of their sons, of course.
Why should I lose out on all the importance? Ten minutes walk down the road, Nityananda
Why should I kill my rights?” Gharai, 28, who has to make do with weaving
After four decades of democracy, sentiments baskets and fishing from his little pond, cannot
like Savitri Giri’s are not rare in rural India. afford to go to the booth before the morning’s
Indeed, work is done.
the Indian villager, if anything, appears to take “I’ll have to wait until 10 in the morning,” he
elections more seriously than his urban says. “Yes, this thing is a lot like a festival, but
brethren. To him (and it’s not all that
special for us…we have to eat.” Despite that, run a country,” says Bhanucharan Majhi, 63, of
however, his family is quite motivated. “I even Chakrara village. “But why so much fuss to
went to choose a
Bhubaneshwar to attend Bijubabu’s (Biju leader? In the old days, the kinds and
Patnaik’s) meeting two years ago,” his mother- zamindars [landlords] ruled the country, and
in-law Gelamoni they ran it no worse than
Democracy in India 7 today’s leaders. The kind understood our
Boru, 50, says proudly. And while Gharai problems; he cared. The zamindar would visit
protests that he will only change out of his every village in his
work clothes—“I’m palanquin [hand-carried sedan chair]. Today’s
too poor to afford a new shirt”—the constraints kings don’t understand, they’re only interested
of poverty obviously do not apply to his wife, in making
[who] as he money at our expense…. There’s not even a
talks to us… sidles up to her husband in a tubewell in our village. And the road (a dirt
sparkling new sari, ready to go voting. In fact, track which is the
every member of only link to the highway 5 km away) dates
the household will vote, down to the halt and back to the times of the kings.” Then why are
the lame. Only the grandmother, whose age is they voting, if they
“beyond are so disgusted with the system? “Mahatma
reckoning,” is exempt: she is blind. Gandhi had said: ‘Now that you are free men,
Sudham, Pira. you must vote.’
Printed with Permission from the author. It’s a duty and a right.” His sister Dukhi
“The Ballot in Rural India,” The Saturday Mandal, 55, sees that we are not quite
Statesman (Calcutta: 29/Jun/01), p6. convinced and spells it out
Democracy in India 8 for us: “If you want to run a house, you have a
Reading C: leader. The old Rajas [princes] are gone, so
“Why So Much Fuss to Choose a Leader?” now we have to
In a rice paddy field in Chakara village, about 2 elect a Raja.”
km down the dirt track from Olinda, Even the politicians are admitting a distinct fall
Padmalochan in the vote turnout in this election. “We’re
Majhi, 22, his wife and his brother Madhu have expecting
been transplanting the new crop from before about 50-60% of the people to vote,” says
dawn, but it’ll Aniruddha Kasta, BJP block president of
take another three hours before they are Jaleshwar and vicepresident
through. “We’ll make it to the [voting] booth of Balasore district. “But the villagers are
by noon,” says pretty well-informed. We’re still forming our
Madhu, who is not yet of voting age but will go organization
to the booth anyway. “There won’t be time for here, but in almost every village we entered,
a bath, but we found 20-30 BJP supporters already there.”
we’ll be wearing new clothes.” But in this “We
election, admits Padmalochan, the people’s didn’t even have to inform the voters,” agrees
enthusiasm is not too Uriha Baske, a Congress Party worker at the
high, though most of them hurried to vote as polling booth at
early as possible. “Elections are supposed to be Muhammadnagar, about 5 km from Jaleshwar.
held every “Those who want to vote come anyway.”
five years, but this time, the problems at the That’s most of the people. At Olinda, there
Centre [in the capital] have disappointed us,” were 10 voters already in the queue [line]
he says. “Personally, when the
I don’t know whether this is good or bad, booth opened at 7 a.m. Shyam Sundar Nakar,
holding elections within one year, but the radio a carpenter, may have no idea when the last
and TV tell us elections were
that it’s very expensive.” held—“Maybe three years ago, maybe five,
But are elections necessary at all, especially if maybe more,” – but he has arrived in a
they are so expensive? In rural India today, sparkling new shirt. He
some always makes it a point to get to the booth
villagers are posing that question, impugning with the first set of voters and brings him
the very basis of democracy. “Of course, you family along with him.
need a leader to
He may not have attended any poll meetings, Poland on June 27, 2000. It identifies nineteen
but he has carefully decided whom to vote for. “core democratic principles and practices” that
A little behind these
him, Lakshmidhar Muklu is clearly displeased countries have pledged to “promote and
with the failure of the last government and is strengthen.” Divide the class into partners to
probably voicing read the Warsaw
his disappointment by turning up in seedy Declaration together, instructing them to stop
work clothes, but he definitely wants to be after every one of the nineteen points to check
instrumental in forming for understanding.
the new government. When they have read the document, partners
But then, why have they bothered to turn up in should work to identify the points from the list
the first batch of voters? The answer comes that they
from consider to be essential to the practice of
Kausalya Behra, 52, at Rajpur village: “This is democracy, that knowing that a country does
our adhikara [right]; this is our kartabya not guarantee the
[duty]. This is our given practice would lead us to conclude that
Democracy in India 9 the country was not a democracy. Second, ask
only link with the rulers.” Is she enthusiastic partners to
about this election then? Not really. Every discuss which of the points might be especially
eligible member of challenging for a country like India, based on
Behra’s family will turn out, “but we won’t go what they
dancing and rejoicing and beating drums. already know about India.
Some people Once the pairs have concluded this discussion,
understand what’s going on, some don’t. But return the class to the chart produced at the
we must carry out our kartabya.” end of Day 1,
Sudham, Pira. and call on pairs to report critical attributes
Printed with Permission from the author. and potential obstacles that they discovered in
“The Ballot in Rural India,” The Saturday the Warsaw
Statesman (Calcutta: 29/Jun/01), p6. Declaration that should be added to the class
Democracy in India 10 chart. These are critical notes that the teacher
Lesson 2: How Does Democracy Work? will probably
Goal: The purpose of today’s lesson is to want to require that students copy; or the
challenge students to expand their view of teacher may want to provide a copy of the list
what for the class to
political practices constitute democracy. work from for the rest of this unit.
Materials: Class set of Reading D (Warsaw Democracy in India 11
Declaration) Reading D:
Warm- up Activity Final Warsaw Declaration: Towards A
Start today’s lesson with a brief discussion of Community of Democracies
what students consider to be the definition of We the participants from
democracy. Republic of Albania, People’s Democratic
Once the basic aspects of democracy are Republic of Algeria, Argentine Republic,
established, the class needs to decide why it Republic of Armenia, Australia, Republic of
matters that a Austria,
country is a democracy. To do this, work as a Azerbaijani Republic, People’s Republic of
class to brainstorm what advantages a Bangladesh, Kingdom of Belgium, Belize,
democracy brings its Republic of Benin, Republic of Bolivia, Bosnia
citizens and what disadvantages citizens and
experience under other regimes (totalitarian, Herzegovina, Republic of Botswana, Federative
dictatorship, monarchy, Republic of Brazil, Republic of Bulgaria, Burkina
theocracy, etc.). Obviously, democracy itself Faso, Canada, Republic of Cape Verde,
brings certain disadvantages and other forms Republic of Chile, Republic of Colombia,
of government Republic of Costa Rica, Republic of Croatia,
provide certain advantages, but the focus of Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Kingdom
this curriculum is only democracy itself. of
Lesson Denmark, Commonwealth of Dominica,
Distribute the Warsaw Declaration, a document Dominican Republic, Republic of Ecuador, Arab
that was signed by most of the world’s Republic of Egypt, Republic of El Salvador,
democracies in
Republic of Estonia, Republic of Finland, Hereby agree to respect and uphold the
Georgia, Federal Republic of Germany, following core democratic principles and
Republic of Guatemala, Republic of Haiti, practices:
Hellenic 1. The will of the people shall be the basis of
Republic, Republic of Hungary, Republic of the authority of government, as expressed by
Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of exercise of
Indonesia, Ireland, State of Israel, Italian the right and civic duties of citizens to choose
Republic, their representatives through regular, free and
Japan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Republic fair
of Kenya, Republic of Korea, State of Kuwait, elections with universal and equal suffrage,
Republic of Latvia, Kingdom of Lesotho, open to multiple parties, conducted by secret
Principality of Liechtenstein, Republic of ballot,
Lithuania, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, former monitored by independent electoral authorities,
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Republic of and free of fraud and intimidation.
Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of 2. The right of every person to equal access to
Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Mauritius, public service and to take part in the conduct
Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Principality of of public
Monaco, Mongolia, Kingdom of Morocco, affairs, directly or through freely chosen
Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Namibia, representatives.
Kingdom of Nepal, Kingdom of the 3. The right of every person to equal protection
Netherlands, of the law, without any discrimination as to
New Zealand, Republic of Nicaragua, Republic race, color,
of the Niger, Federal Republic of Nigeria, sex, language, religion, political or other
Kingdom of Norway, Republic of Panama, opinion, national or social origin, property,
Papua birth or other status.
New Guinea, Republic of Paraguay, Republic of 4. The right of every person to freedom of
Peru, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of opinion and of expression, including to
Poland, Portuguese Republic, State of exchange and receive
Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint ideas and information through any media,
Lucia, Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and regardless of frontiers.
Principe, Republic of Senegal, Republic of 5. The right of every person to freedom of
Seychelles, Slovak Republic, Republic of thought, conscience and religion.
Slovenia, Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of 6. The right of every person to equal access to
Spain, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri education.
Lanka, Kingdom of Sweden, Swiss 7. The right of the press to collect, report and
Confederation, United Republic of Tanzania, disseminate information, news and opinions,
Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of Tunisia, subject only to restrictions necessary in a
Republic of democratic society and prescribed by law,
Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great while bearing in mind evolving
Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States international practices in this field.
of America, Eastern Republic of Uruguay, 8. The right of every person to respect for
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Republic of private and family life, home, correspondence
Yemen, in the Community of Democracies and electronic
Ministerial Meeting convened in Warsaw, communications, free of arbitrary or unlawful
Poland interference.
25 - 27 June 2000: 9. The right of every person to freedom of
Expressing our common adherence to the peaceful assembly and association, including to
purposes and principles set forth in the Charter establish or
of the United join their own political parties, civic groups,
Nations and the Universal Declaration of trade unions or other organizations with the
Human Rights, necessary legal
Reaffirming our commitment to respect guarantees to allow them to operate freely on
relevant instruments of international law, a basis of equal treatment before the law.
Emphasizing the interdependence between Democracy in India 12
peace, development, human rights and 11. The right of every person to be free from
democracy, arbitrary arrest or detention; to be free from
Recognizing the universality of democratic torture and
values, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment; and to receive due process of
law, including to be presumed innocent until We will seek to strengthen institutions and
proven guilty in a court of law. processes of democracy. We appreciate the
12. That the aforementioned rights, which are value of exchanging
essential to full and effective participation in a experiences in the consolidation of democracy
democratic and identifying best practices. We will promote
society, be enforced by a competent, discussions and,
independent and impartial judiciary open to the where appropriate, create forums on subjects
public, established relevant to democratic governance for the
and protected by law. purpose of continuing
13. That elected leaders uphold the law and and deepening our dialogue on
function strictly in accordance with the democratization. We will focus our
constitution of the deliberations on our common principles and
country concerned and procedures established values rather than extraneous bilateral issues
by law. between members. We resolve jointly to
14. The right of those duly elected to form a cooperate to discourage
government, assume office and fulfill the term and resist the threat to democracy posed by
of office as the overthrow of constitutionally elected
legally established. governments. We resolve
15. The obligation of an elected government to to strengthen cooperation to face the
refrain from extra-constitutional actions, to transnational challenges to democracy, such as
allow the state-sponsored, crossborder
holding of periodic elections and to respect and other forms of terrorism; organized crime;
their results, and to relinquish power when its corruption; drug trafficking; illegal arms
legal mandate trafficking;
ends. trafficking in human beings and money
16. That government institutions be laundering, and to do so in accordance with
transparent, participatory and fully accountable respect for human rights of
to the citizenry of the all persons and for the norms of international
country and take steps to combat corruption, law.
which corrodes democracy. We will encourage political leaders to uphold
17. That the legislature be duly elected and the values of tolerance and compromise that
transparent and accountable to the people. underpin effective
18. That civilian, democratic control over the democratic systems, and to promote respect
military be established and preserved. for pluralism so as to enable societies to retain
19. That all human rights — civil, cultural, their multi-cultural character, and at the same
economic, political and social — be promoted time maintain stability and social cohesion. We
and protected as reject ethnic and religious hatred,violence and
set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human other forms of extremism. We will also
Rights and other relevant human rights promote civil society, including women’s
instruments. organizations,
The Community of Democracies affirms our non-governmental organizations, labor and
determination to work together to promote and business associations, and independent media
strengthen in their exercise of10. The right of persons
democracy, recognizing that we are at differing belonging to minorities or disadvantaged
stages in our democratic development. We will groups to equal protection of the law, and the
cooperate to freedom to enjoy their own culture, to profess
consolidate and strengthen democratic and practice their own religion, and to use
institutions, with due respect for sovereignty their own
and the principle of noninterference language.
in internal affairs. Our goal is to support Democracy in India 13
adherence to common democratic values and life, including by persons belonging to minority
standards, groups and women, is fundamental to a vibrant
as outlined above. To that end, our and durable
governments hereby agree to abide by these democracy.We will help to promote
principles in practice, and to government-to-government and people-to-
support one another in meeting these people linkages and promote civic
objectives which we set for ourselves today. educationand literacy, including education for
democracy. In these ways we will strengthen
democratic institutions andpractices and
support the diffusion of democratic norms and At the time of independence, Gandhi called
values. upon the youth to participate actively in the
We will work with relevant institutions and freedom movement. Young leaders likes Nehru
international organizations, civil society and came to his reckoning and led the movement.
governments to coordinate But this is not the case now. Nowadays we
support for new and emerging democratic have only a handful of young leaders like Rahul
societies. Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Varun Gandhi etc, but
We recognize the importance our citizens place they are in the political scenario because they
on the improvement of living conditions. We belong to influential political families. It is next
also recognize themutually-reinforcing benefits to impossible to find a young leader with no
the democratic process offers to achieving political family background in the furor of
sustained economic growth. To thatend, we politics.
will seek to assist each other in economic and
social development, including eradication of There can be two reasons for this deplorable
poverty, as scene of Indian politics. One may be that the
an essential contributing factor to the youth today are not interested in actively
promotion and preservation of democratic participating in the political field. They are
development. content with what they are doing and how the
We will collaborate on democracy-related country is being governed. But this reason
issues in existing international and regional seems to hold no ground seeing the discontent
institutions, forming shown by the youngsters towards cases like
coalitions and caucuses to support resolutions reservation, Jessica lal murder case etc. The
and other international activities aimed at the youth of modern India are aware of the
promotion of problems facing our country and the world at
democratic governance. large. Given a chance they would be ready to
Democracy in India change the political condition of the country for
Goal: The purpose of today’s lesson is to guide better.
students to look at the particular profile of
India so that they will be able to find specific
 Second reason may be that young people are
perspectives and practices when they do their
not given opportunities to prove themselves
research. Because democracy requires
claiming that they are not equipped with
widespread participation, the geographic,
experience to participate actively in the
cultural,
governance of the country. This reason seems
economic and historical experience of a
to be more logical seeing the monopoly of old
country deeply affect the practice of
leaders in almost all the major political parties
democracy.
of the country. Old people should realize that
This is why we must look at the conditions in
proper development can take place only when
India in order to determine how effectively
they make way for younger people to take
democratic institutions function
control of the activities.
there.Democracy is the buzz word for our
political system. But is it really so? Is it
democracy that a nation where a majority of  There are few things which need to be
population is below 40 elects a majority of clarified. One that youngsters do not mean
people above 60 to power? Are we really people who are 20 years old with no
satisfied with the way our country is being experience at all. Youth in this context is
governed? Should it not bother us that at the meant to refer people in their 30’s or early 40’s
age people generally take retirement and rest, with a good mix of energy and experience.
our politicians actually become eligible to be at Two, it is not intended to mean that old people
the helm of affairs? Why is it so that people should leave the political scene and rest. What
below 50 years are considered as political is wanted is that they should be there but for
‘kids’?  The country desperately needs some guidance because they are treasures of
young leaders who personify energy, invaluable experience.  
enthusiasm, morality, and diligence. No doubt
we have progressed a lot in the last 62 years There are a few things which I would like to
but the development pace would have been suggest. There should be a retirement age for
completely different had some young politicians as well which may be around 65
torchbearers led this process of development.   years. There should also be some educational
qualification for politicians. How can we give
those illiterates the key to our country whom
we can not give the key to our house? People been partly responsible for making India world
with serious criminal background should not be leaders in areas of
allowed to contest elections.   information, nuclear, space and bio-
technologies).
As for the youth of our country, they can In spite of sixty years of democracy, India’s
contribute in more ways than just contesting significant chunk of population is poor,
elections. Much can be done in areas like malnourished,
educating people, raising awareness about unemployed and illiterate. Human development
various social ills, and many other areas. index is very low when compared to semi-
democratic
countries like China and South-East countries.
 We can just wish that the next time we go to
Sadly, India is ranked as one of the most
vote we find more names of youngsters who
corrupt countries,
can make our country a better place to live in.
according to the Transparency International.
Ethnic (religion, caste, language and so on)
1 tensions and
Indian Democracy at Crossroads: Role of conflicts are widespread. Disparities among
Political Parties in Inclusive regions and classes are increasing. Human
Abstract India is one of the few post-colonial rights violations
countries, which has opted and sustained are on rise. Radicalism and fundamentalism
democracy for the last six decades. Elections are spreading to a number of districts. So is
are conducted regularly and governments also criminalismand corruption. The failure in
changed with different political parties. promoting inclusive governance can be
Unlike many other countries, all sections of attributed to the improper
society (irrespective of religion, region, caste, institutionalization of political party system
sex, and (single dominant, two party and multiple
education) are given voting rights to select parties), political
responsive leaders. Unrestricted freedom for parties functioning, ideology and internal
political parties, democracy.
interest groups and press enable to reflect and Political Parties and Governance (Brief
articulate diverse views and interests. Conceptual and Theoretical Review)
Institutions like Political parties are critical for effective
Judiciary, Human Rights, Minority, SC/ST, functioning of democracy and inclusive
Women and Election Commissions are given governance. The
autonomy to act mobilisation of electorate, the selection of
independent of governments to safeguard civil leaders, the formulation of agendas and
and citizens’ rights. passing of legislation
This has enabled India to survive as a nation
(disproving the hypothesis of Western 2
scholars) and resolveconflicts (language, are conducted through parties. Parties are, in
regional, religious, and other ethnic) within the short, the mechanisms through which power is
democratic framework unlike ourneighbours. exercised in a
Parliamentary democracy and federal form of democracy (Mehta, 200:38).
government (sharing power among centre, Strong party institutions are vital for the long-
states and local) have also enabled to term stability and healthy functioning of
articulate the contesting interests of small democratic
groups and parties regimes. Political parties are seen as primary
(Muslims, Christians, Bodos, Nagas) through vehicles for integrating diverse social forces
their elected representatives. Democracy has within
also facilitated democratic institutions, channelising and
persons with humble background and from processing societal demands, resolving socio-
disadvantaged groups to occupy highest political conflict,
positions (President,PM, CM). Furthermore, it defining public policy alternatives, and holding
has helped to moderate the extremist government officials accountable to the
persuasions, ideologies, political parties and citizenry
insurgent groups and separatist movements (Mainwaring and Scully 1995; see also
(like Punjab, North-East, Kashmir) to fall line Diamond, Linz, and Lipset 1989; Dix 1992;
with mainstream thinking (Democracy has Gibson 1996;
Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens 1992 many such other Commissions on Electoral and
cited in Roberts Kenneth M.Roberts et.al., Economic Reforms) to promote inclusive
1999:575). growth and
A stable well-institutionalised party is a key governance (efficient, equitable, responsive
element for effective political representation and accountable). This lecture is also very
and governance relevant in the
(Kreuzer and Pettai, 2004: 614). Stable parties present context of coalition politics and
are necessary condition for democratic globalisation (liberalisation, privatisation),
consolidation democratic
(Kreuzer and Pettai, 2004: 623). Without decentralisation (73rd and 74th Amendment)
stable parties, the public opinion would remain and civil society assertions (Narmadha to
unstructured, Nandhigram).
electoral accountability limited. , interest Finally, this lecture is mainly aimed to highlight
aggregation ineffective, and governance would the significance of political parties for
be in this promoting
process would becomes inefficient (Kreuzer inclusive governance. Scholars like Atul Kohli
and Pettai, 2004: 623). Weakly attributed the crisis of India’s governance in
institutionalised party system 1970s to the
is responsible for political instability, weak decline of congress party.
competition among parties, weak party roots in
society, which
might lead to low legitimacy (Scott
Mainwaring, 1998). Moreover, strong and
integrative party
institutions have been identified as important
actors in the political consolidation of economic
reforms in
emerging democracies (Haggard and Kaufman
1995) (Kenneth M.Roberts et.al., 1999: 575).
Intra-party democracy of political parties has a
significant impact on democratic consolidation
and
representation. Internal party organisational
issues such as membership, recruitment,
socialisation,
training, discipline and resources of the party
have profound influence on the outcome.
Internal
organisational factors (recruitment strategies,
centralisation, party discipline, norms of co-
operation, and political skills) are responsible
for responding to the powerful environmental
factors (Gryzmala-Buss,
202:13 cited in Kreuzer and Pettai, 2004:
626).
Relevance of this Public Lecture:
This public lecture analyses Indian party
system and internal democracy of major
political parties in
India. The analysis of the political parties is
very relevant in the present juncture when
major political,
administrative and economic reforms are being
initiated (Constitutional Review Committee
headed by sri.Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah,
Second Administrative Reforms Commission by
Sri Veerappa Moily, and