The World’s Largest Democracy

35.4.4: The World’s Largest Democracy

Since the 1947 independence, India has been a constitutional republic and representative democracy, but religious and caste-related violence, terrorism, and corruption continue to challenge the Indian democratic system.

Learning Objective

Evaluate democracy in India

Key Points

  • Being the seventh largest (by area) and the second most populous country in the world, the Republic of India is the largest democracy by electorate. India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which serves as the country’s supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which “majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.”
  • The Constitution of India, which came into being in 1950, states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India’s form of government is traditionally described as “quasi-federal” with a strong center and weak states. India is a federation composed of 29 states and seven union territories.
  • The federal government comprises executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The President of India is the head of the state while the Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power, leading the Council of Ministers. The legislature of India is a bicameral parliament. A unitary three-tier independent judiciary comprises the Supreme Court, 24 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts.
  • India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as regional parties. As with any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions and their core values play a major role in the politics of India.In recent decades, Indian politics has become a dynastic affair. This phenomenon is seen both at the national and state levels.
  • Indian society is very diverse in religion, region, language, caste, and race. This has led to the rise of political parties with agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups. Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, and development substantially influence politics, although different parties propose dramatically different approaches.
  • Indian democracy faces many challenges. Terrorism, Naxalism, religious violence, and caste-related violence are important issues that affect the political environment of the Indian nation. Further, corruption has serious implications for both protecting the rule of law and ensuring access to justice.

Key Terms

vote bank
A loyal bloc of voters from a single community that consistently backs a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections. Such behavior is often the result of an expectation of real or imagined benefits from the political formations, often at the cost of other communities.
Indian National Congress
One of two major political parties in India, founded in 1885 during the British Raj. Its founders include Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Dinshaw Wacha. In the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, it became a pivotal participant in the Indian independence movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants in its opposition to British colonial rule in India.
vote bank politics
The practice of creating and maintaining loyal blocs of voters through divisive policies. As it encourages voters to vote on the basis of narrow communal considerations, often against their better judgement, it is considered harmful to the principles of representative democracy.
Naxalism
Ideology associated with and an informal name given to communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India. Some factions are considered terrorists by the Government of India and various state governments in India.

 

The Indian Government

As the seventh largest (by area) and the second most populous country in the world, the Republic of India is the largest democracy by electorate. India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which serves as the country’s supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy in which “majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.” Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and the states. The government abides by constitutional checks and balances. The Constitution of India, which came into being in 1950, states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India’s form of government, traditionally described as “quasi-federal” with a strong center and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.

The federal government comprises executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The President of India is the head of state and is elected indirectly by a national electoral college for a five-year term. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament and leads the Council of Ministers. The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament. It comprises the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (“Council of States” with 245 members elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures,  who serve six-year terms) and the lower called the Lok Sabha (“House of the People” with 545 members, all but two directly elected by popular vote for five-year terms). India has a unitary three-tier independent judiciary that comprises the Supreme Court, 24 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts.

India is a federation composed of 29 states and seven union territories. All states and two union territories have their own governments. The executive of each state is the Governor (equivalent to the president of India), whose role is ceremonial. The real power resides with the Chief Minister (equivalent to the Prime Minister) and the state council of ministers. States may either have a unicameral or bicameral legislature, varying from state to state.

India has a multi-party system, with a number of national as well as regional parties. As with any other democracy, political parties represent different sections among the Indian society and regions and their core values play a major role in the politics of India. Through the elections, any party may gain simple majority in the lower house. Coalitions are formed in case no single party gains a simple majority in the lower house. Unless a party or a coalition have a majority in the lower house, a government cannot be formed by that party or the coalition.

In recent decades, Indian politics has become a dynastic affair. This phenomenon is seen both at the national and state levels. One example of dynastic politics has been the Nehru–Gandhi family, which produced three Indian prime ministers and is leading the Indian National Congress party. At the state level too, a number of political parties are led by family members of the previous leaders.

Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, served as prime minister for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term (1980–84).

Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,served as prime minister for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term (1980–84). Politics in India has often been a family affair. Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma) served as her father’s personal assistant and hostess during his tenure as prime minister between 1947 and 1964. She was elected Congress President in 1959.In 1984, two of Gandhi’s bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi.

Challenges of Indian Democracy

The Indian society is very diverse, with substantial differences in  religion, region, language, caste, and race. This has led to the rise of political parties with agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups. Some parties openly profess their focus on a particular group while others claim to be universal in nature, but tend to draw support from sections of the population. For example, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (the National People’s Party) has a vote bank among the Yadav and Muslim population of Bihar, and the All India Trinamool Congress does not have any significant support outside West Bengal. The narrow focus and vote bank politics of most parties, even in the central government and central legislature, sidelines national issues such as economic welfare and national security. Moreover, internal security is also threatened as incidences of political parties instigating and leading violence between two opposing groups of people is a frequent occurrence.

Economic issues like poverty, unemployment, and development substantially influence politics, although different parties propose dramatically different approaches. Garibi hatao (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for a long time. The well known Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) encourages a free market economy. Conversely, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports left-wing politics like land-for-all and right to work, and strongly opposes neo-liberal policies such as globalization, capitalism, and privatization.

Terrorism, Naxalism (ideology associated with communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement), religious violence, and caste-related violence are important issues that affect the political environment of the Indian nation. Furthermore, corruption is a problem that has serious implications for both protecting the rule of law and ensuring access to justice. In 2008, the Washington Post reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, “including human trafficking, child prostitution immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder.”Many of the biggest scandals since 2010 have involved very high level government officials, including cabinet ministers and chief ministers. A 2005 study done by the Transparency International in India found that more than 62% of the people had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office.

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