CHAPTER-3

ELECTORAL POLITICS
 WHAT IS AN ELECTION?

An election is a mechanism by which people can choose their

representatives at regular intervals and change them if they
wish to do so.
 WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS?

 Let’s imagine a democracy without elections.

 Here, rule of democracy is only possible if all the citizens sit
together to take the decisions.
 As this is not possible so in most democracies people rule
through their representatives.
 This is known as representative democracy.
 IS THERE A DEMOCRATIC WAY OF SELECTING
REPRESENTATIVE WITHOUT ELECTIONS?

 Let’s imagine a place where representatives are elected on the basis of age,
experience, knowledge, or education.
 Clearly, this place doesn’t need election but it cannot be called democratic
because of the following reasons:
• The citizens may not like their representatives as they are not the one to elect them.
• It is not sure if these representatives would rule as per citizen’s wishes.
• It is not determined how can the citizens change the representatives in power.
 Therefore, it requires election which is, a mechanism by which people can
choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish
to do so.
 IN AN ELECTION THE VOTERS CAN MAKE
MANY CHOICES
They can choose:
 Who will make laws for them.
 Who will form the government and take major decisions.
 The party whose policies will guide the government and law making.
WHAT MAKES AN ELECTION DEMOCRATIC?

• Following conditions makes an election democratic:

 Every citizen should have one vote and every vote should have equal
value.
 Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections.
 Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
 Candidate preferred by the citizens should get elected.
 Elections should be conducted in free and fair manner.
 IS IT GOOD TO HAVE POLITICAL
COMPETITION?
Demerits of political competition
 It creates a sense of disunity in every locality.
 Many political parties and leader often level allegations against each other.
 Parties and candidates often use dirty tricks to win elections.
 The pressure to win electoral fights does not allow sensible long term
policies to be formulated.
 People who may wish to serve the country do not enter this arena because
they do not want unhealthy competition.
 MERITS OF POLITICAL COMPETITION

• Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties.

• The party in power does not have a choice if they want to stay in power they need to
serve the country.
• If they fail to do so they will not be able to win again.
• Political competition may cause divisions and ugliness but it finally helps to form
political parties and serve the people.
 PROCEDURE AND PROCESS OF INDIAN
ELECTORAL SYSTEM

• In India, the elections are normally held after every five years.

• Elections are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on the same day or within a gap of few days, this is
called general elections.

• If any election is held due to vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member, it is called ‘By Election’.

Procedure of elections include following features:

 Electoral Constituencies:

• The whole country is divided into constituencies on the basis of population, these are termed as electoral
constituencies.

• There are 543 constituencies in India, the representatives elected from these constituencies are called Member of
Parliament or MPs.

• Each state is divided into a number of assembly constituencies, the elected representatives of an assembly constituency
is called Member of Legislative Assembly or an MLA.

• Each village or town is divided into ‘wards’ that are like constituencies, sometimes these are called seats.
 RESERVED CONSTITUENCIES

 A country is divided into many separate units for the purpose of holding elections.
Each of these units in which elections are held is known as a constituency.
 A reserved constituency is one which is reserved for schedule tribes and casts in
both Parliamentary and Assembly elections.
 General candidates are not allowed to contest elections from these constituencies.
 It was created because it was felt that in an open electoral system people belonging
to weaker section of society may not get a fair chance to contest and win elections.
 Rich and powerful people may prevent the people of certain weaker caste or tribe
from contesting elections which will go against the democratic spirit of constitution.
 VOTER’S LIST

 In a democratic election the list of those who are eligible to vote is prepared much before
the elections. This list is officially called electoral roll and is commonly known as the
voter’s list.
The significance of voter’s list is as follows:
• This is an important step for it is linked to the first condition of a democratic election that
is everyone should get an equal opportunity to choose representatives.
• In our country, all the citizens aged 18 or above can vote and every citizen has the right to
vote regardless of his/her caste, religion or gender.
• It is a responsibility of the government to get the names of all the eligible voters put on
the voter’s list. As new people attain voting age, names are added to the voter’s list.