How has electoral democracy augmented the participation of people in the democratic process ? (UPSC CSE Mains 2022 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
Democracy implies the utilisation of electoral processes to decide which citizens will be entrusted with the basic tasks of government.
Regardless of whether the political system is presidential or parliamentary, the elected representatives exercise the legislative and executive powers (the judicial power as well in some systems following the common law tradition), subject to controls established by the constitution, observing fundamental rights and public freedom and with the limits that determine the separation between the powers and the constitutional form of each one of them.
Electoral democracy augmented the participation of people in the democratic process:
- Empowers the citizens: All citizens are able to intervene in the political decisions by means of representatives elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage. In short, the establishment of the principle ‘one person, one vote’.
- Peaceful Transfer of power: Elections facilitate peaceful transfer of power from one political party or one group of political parties to another and legitimize the working of the government by justifying the authority of representatives to lead people.
- Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders. They know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections. But if they fail to satisfy the voters with their work they will not be able to win again. So, if a political party is motivated only by desire to be in power, then it will be forced to serve the people.
- Political participation of the underprivileged is closely linked to the success of inclusive policies of the government and shows an individual’s faith in the state. The belief that one can influence political matters, also called political efficacy by scholars.
- The rise in the political participation of the underprivileged shows that democracy has an opportunity for participation in these regions. But it also depends on the frequency of elections, the development of civil society organizations, and the presence of a political environment that permits free expression.
- Margins of victory in state elections provide another important measure of democratic health, as persistent landslide victories for incumbents or political parties may suggest a lack of democratic accountability or partisan gerrymandering of districts.
Democracy is hence not an end, but a means for a society to achieve its highest potential. Expanding the public’s voice is essential to have a democratic polity and broadly improves the quality of governance. The dilemma for democracy is to embrace a more active public, while ensuring the equality of political voice at the same time.
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