Opinion The democratic slide

As yet another calendar year comes to an end,two themes are set to dominate public discussions. One is the impending parliamentary election and the other is the economic slide. Incidentally,a decade of UPA rule may also be coming to an end,though an assessment of the last 10 years is not so much about the UPA as it is about the country’s democratic institutions and democratic culture.

In a sense,this year represents most of the critical features of political development in the last decade. The inadequacies of the candle-light protests against the December 16 gangrape were thrown into sharp relief as cases of rape continued to be reported. And as if to showcase the plight of women in the public sphere,a former judge of the Supreme Court faces allegations of sexual assault. With half the population constantly facing the threat of indignity and physical insecurity,the country’s democratic culture stands deeply flawed. Of course,the political class has dutifully tightened the law pertaining to sexual crimes. But the implementation of laws and,more importantly,the inclusion of women as members of the public remain more remote targets. On the subject of inclusion,can we expect political parties to give more tickets to women candidates this time round or will they hide behind the failure of the women’s reservation bill?

It now seems to be a norm that in order to right every wrong,we need a separate law or separate institutional paraphernalia. So,the political establishment has finally brought in the lokpal. Many from this “establishment” resent the use of terms like political class and political establishment,but the way the issue of crime and corruption was handled by politicians only substantiates the claim that there exists a self-serving clique called the political establishment. Parallelly,throughout the year,we saw ministers,former chief ministers and a host of politicians go to jail (and subsequently get bail). The government nearly managed to nullify the court ruling disqualifying elected representatives found guilty by a trial court. And even as the lokpal bill finally became law,the government of the progressive state of Maharashtra “rejected” the report of an inquiry commission that alleged the involvement of a host of politicians and bureaucrats in a scam. So much for fighting corruption.

As the year draws to a close,the shadow of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar looms large,not only over UP but over the entire country. The decade after Godhra has been relatively calm on the communal front. Clashes did continue to occur,but a communal divide did not necessarily follow from incidents of communal violence. Muzaffarnagar appears set to change that. So,the ghost of a communal divide that the BJP has sought to brush under the carpet since the formation of the NDA has returned to haunt us. But communalism is not just about violence. Like the issue of gender injustice,it is a question of inclusion and exclusion. This year,we witnessed one prime ministerial candidate proclaiming that his Hindu birth and pursuit of growth-oriented nationalism automatically made him a “Hindu nationalist”. This was an exhortation to all “growth-oriented” citizens born as Hindus to be Hindu nationalists. This ingenuity brings communalism back in a more sophisticated manner than before.

We have picked here three instances of the issues that worried many and captured the imagination of some. On the face of it,these are unrelated facets of the experienced reality of one calendar year. Do they tell us something larger about our democratic politics?

In 2004,a group of political scientists,under the auspices of CSDS-Lokniti,assessed the quality and texture of India’s democracy (along with that of other South Asian countries — the study was subsequently published as State of Democracy in South Asia). This year,that same exercise is being repeated. Initial findings suggest that satisfaction with the working of democracy in our country has declined from 55 per cent to 46 per cent. Support for democracy (as the only way of organising politics) has also declined from 49 per cent to 46 per cent. What is perhaps more worrisome is that from 6 per cent in 2004,the proportion of those who do not mind non-democratic solutions in certain circumstances has risen to 11 per cent now. The craving for a strong leader has also increased. These initial findings need to be situated in the context of the political economy of chaos,uncertainty and unresponsiveness that we have witnessed over the past few years. A robustly democratic society appears to have been losing that robustness over a period of 10 years. So it might be instructive to treat the day-to-day problems and political failures as symptomatic of the broader shortcomings that punctuate the narrative of democratic politics in India. Three shortcomings may be relevant.

First,there is an institutional shortcoming. This has to do with the failure of institutions to run according to their mandate. Most institutions — from Parliament to the armed forces and the judiciary — have contributed to the institutional crisis that we face today. Institutions often help in bringing legitimacy to the enterprise called democracy. In our country,they seem to be contributing to the distrust and dissatisfaction of the people. Institutional practices have turned politics into a despicable enterprise that fails to inspire confidence even among the gullible. Second,many governments lack the will and plan to deliver. The crisis of governance that was witnessed in many states during the 1990s has now spread to the Centre. Democracy becomes empty rhetoric if elected governments are seen as ineffective and/ or inefficient. That is exactly what seems to be happening in India. Third,as argued in these pages earlier (‘Moving the Middle’,IE,November 22),the shifting middle ground of politics should leave the supporters of democracy worried. Because,if the findings mentioned above and our prognosis are not off the mark,India’s democratic politics is slowly becoming home to intolerance,exclusion and sub-democratic solutions. Like many an encounter of the Indian cricket team,India’s democracy has managed to slip from a position of advantage to a moment of concern,accruing the deficit and frittering away the advantage.

Elections have the potential to rejuvenate democracy. Will the 2014 elections alert voters and the “political class” to this dangerous slide that accompanies the economic slide?

The writer teaches political science at the University of Pune

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