A Democratic Crisis

The concept of democracy has come to pervade all aspects of public life. But there are issues cropping from the application of this concept that need to be addressed to face the complex challenges of today and tomorrow.

In the Indian context, approximately, 70% people vote and of that the winning party requires about 35% of the vote. Which essentially means that the government is representing only a minority, about 25%, of the people. Another way to look at it is that if the right to recall is incorporated then no government is going to last for a full 5 year term. Perhaps, one way to address this issue could be to introduce proportional representation. But even then the government would only  require a simple majority.  Who looks after the minority then (And this is assuming the interests of the majority are taken care of)? The judiciary with the aid of the constitution can provide some relief but that would not be enough to lift them out of their present deplorable condition.

Perhaps one can say that we do not live in a true democracy. Votes of people are bought with liquor and bread with the money  provided by capitalists who in return milk the system for their private benefit. But even a mature democracy like USA faces some complex issues. Here, just like in India, the system has been compromised even before elections have taken place. How? Because of political funding by private institutions. One solution to this can be public funding of elections, but then so far as a private party is willing to give money and a public authority willing to take it this issue cannot be resolved.

Another issue with the present system is the short termism built into it. With elections every four/five years the attention of every political party is on how to put in policies that would reap results in the short term. So instead of investing in health, education and skill development the politicians implement easy credit policies. This is one of the most important causes of the 2008 crisis. But a party that would invest in education or other long gestation policies would lose to a party that would provide cheap credit or a farmer subsidy. This is the sad truth of present times. A majority of men and women , even educated ones, would chose short term benefits against policies that would help in creating a sustainable society. For that would require sacrifice. And this is the Achilles heel of democracy.

Another example would be that each and every citizen and/or his children on this planet will be affected by climate change in an adverse way. Why aren't then people rallying to tackle climate change?  In India where most people fight for survival every day, it is understandable. But in America, the epitome of democracy, where most people are educated and comparatively well off, it is not.  My contention is that by giving voice to every Tom, Dick & Harry (and i know i am going to get a lot of stick for this) we have diluted the voice of those who are best fit to lead us to face the complexities of the 21st century.