Election and Democracy: A Study

Assignment 1

PRESENTED BY-
Shambhavi Vatsa
1st semester, 1st year
UID- SF0120074

FACULTY-IN-CHARGE: MR. MAYENGBAM NANDAKISHWOR SINGH

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 21-12-2020

What is an Election?
Election can be defined as formal-group decision making process by
which a population chooses an individual to hold the public office. The
process of election came into action, for electing leaders across the
world, from 17th century.1 The process used in modern day for electing
is quite different from what it used to be earlier, i.e., from the draw of
lot. In present time, there is proper election process (through electoral
ballot system) that is followed for electing a person as a leader and
there is a body for conducting such elections and are named
differently in different places. To elect means to ‘select or make a
decision’ which is why referendum in US is also termed as election.

What is democracy?
Democracy is a form of government where the people have the
authority to choose their governing leaders. It is a rule by the people.
A democratic nation refers to a state where the state is governed by
the people, for the people and to the people. The term is derived
from the Greek word ‘dēmokratiā,’ which was coined
from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) in the middle of the
5th century BCE to denote the political system then existing in
some Greek city-states, notably Athens.2 Thus, democracy will
exist when people will have the power, to choose the person, who
they would like to be led by.

1
History of Elections, https://www.britannica.com/topic/election-political-science (16th December,2020)
2
Democracy, https://www.britannica.com/topic/democracy (16th December,2020)
Democracy and Election
Elections are the central institution of democratic representative
government because in the democracy the government drives
its authority from the consent of the governed. The free and fair
elections is the only means to gain that consent and translate
that into governmental authority. As, Aristotle said ‘democracy is
rule of many’3 thus the election where only one candidate is
present or where different candidates for different offices stand
that election cannot be termed as democratic election. Such
elections are held in Marxist regime, one party- government and
right-wing dictatorship just to give their rule the tag of legitimacy.
However, a democratic election is the election which is defined
as the one which is competitive, periodic, definitive, inclusive and
overall free and fair and which includes the right of the governed
to criticize government, to publish their criticisms and to present
alternatives. The people in a democracy exercise their authority
in two ways: (a) they determine the ends towards which their
government shall aim; and (b) watch over those into whose
hands they have placed the actual power of administration.4
In democracy the election should be held at a certain interval of
time so that the officials have the risk of being voted out of the
office. And this helps the people to analyse the work done by
their elected officials and to make a calculated decision about
whether or not to vote for them again. Also, periodic election will
help in giving chance to vote to the citizen when they achieve the
right age. At the same time oppositions would be able to bring
out the shortcoming in the present policy of ruling party only if

3
OP Gauba, An Introduction to Political Theory,8th edition, (National Paperback, 1st january,2020), 479-480
4
Id.
there is competition, which is necessary condition for democratic
elections.

Election should be definitive, that is, the party elected must be

subjected to the law and constitution of the country as they hold
the power. It should be conducted through universal adult
franchises and should be secretive so that each citizen can
exercise his/her rights without the fear or favour. Also, elections
should be all inclusive which means the definition of citizens and
voters must be large enough to include a large proportion of the
population. It should not be confined to privileged classes and
must not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, religion and
region. As in a democracy a government is not chosen by small
or exclusive group as it is different from feudalism, monarchy and
despotism, etc.
In a democratic election each and every voter have equal rights
so that everyone feels responsible for their duty. Elections,
should be conducted by a free and fair way and there should not
be any discrepancy in the process of election. The protection of
ballot box and the counting of votes must be done as openly as
possible so that the voters feel that the government, indeed
depend upon their ‘consent’. This will also help in increasing the
awareness of people or so to say, citizens about their leaders as
they will participate in the election process.
Last but not the least in a democratic election each citizen must
have the right to criticize and express their criticism through true
means otherwise the government will be termed as communist
(as that of china in which every journal, every post and every
article is censored and people do not have the right to freely
express their views against the government). Thus, this type of
regulation leads to loss of freedom of expression of the citizens
and hence the loss of democracy.
PROBLEMS FACED IN DEMOCRATIC ELECTION: -
1. ILLITERACY- Though, in a democracy everybody has a right
to vote, yet very few of the educated members actually turn out
to vote and few are not even aware of that voting is their
constitutional right. As for the matter of fact only 67.1%of the
voters turned out in the Lok Sabha election, 2019.5
2.CASTEISM AND COMMUNALISM – a lot of voters at the
time of election give weight to the caste and religion of the
candidate. Even political parties give tickets to the person of the
caste they tend to favour. Thus, the candidate elected by such
way tends to serve only a particular community.
3. CORRUPTION – rampant corruption by political leaders,
officers’ results in lack of trust of the citizen in the government
and this in turn affects the democracy of that country.
4.ELECTORAL BRIBERY – a lot of anti-social behaviour takes
place during election in a democratic nation such as bribing the
people of lower income strata to get their vote. This in turn leads
the leaders to divert funds from other sources, by adopting
corrupt methods, to persuade people during election times and
this just weakens the democracy.
SOLUTIONS FOR THESE PROBLEMS: -
1. LITERACY – uneducated people must me made aware of their
rights through various awareness campaign in the urban as well
as rural area so that the voter turn-out could increase. We need
to practice the rigors of citizenship in our everyday lives. This
requires a socio-political mobilization for citizenship building.6
Also, only by educating people at large various problems relating
to casteism, regionalism as well as religionism can be solved.

5
Bharti Jain, “Lok Sabha elections: At 67.1%, 2019 turnout’s a record, Election commission says” TIMES OF INDIA,
21st May,2019. Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/69419715.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&
utm_campaign=cppst

6
Dr. Anup Das, “The Solution to the Problems of Democracy is More Democracy” (2012):54
2. ZERO BRIBE7 – people should refrain from taking as well as
giving any bribe from or to the heads who holds the public office.
Also, the candidate who stands for election must be made to sign
a pledge not to pursue the unfair means of the acts of buying and
selling votes during elections.
CONCLUSION
It can, therefore, be concluded that democratic election is not
about the contest for being in power all the time but the contest
for serving the office, which the elected member represents,
through true and fair means. However, problems that lies in the
conduct and execution of election processes need to be revisited
and resolved through amicable means and within the periphery
of laws of the land.

7
“15 ways young people can fight corruption”, https://www.transparency.org/en/news/15-ways-young-
people-can-fight-corruption , (accessed 17th December,2020)