Political Parties As Cornerstones Of Democratic Governance L C Jain December 2007 ^\\\ f aVuV'-J, IsFD scHoa FOR CEMOCRAW A School for Democracy Publication Political Parties as Cornerstones Of Democratic Governance L. C. JAIN FOR COPIES PLEASE CONTACT SCHOOL FOR DEMOCRACY (Loktantrashala) VILLAGE THANA, P.O.- THANA TEHSIL-MANDAL, DISTRICT BHILWARA RAJASTHAN - 311804 EMAIL - [email protected] Contributory Price : Rs 20/- Acknowledgement The School for Democracy wants to thank Dr. Devaki Jain and the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) for enabling the publication of L.C.Jain's Political Parties As Cornerstones Of Democratic Governance. This was earlier circulated in Chennai. This is being printed for circulation on the occasion of 9th National Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms being held in Jaipur, 2013. This document is an important contribution to the continuing discourse on the critical need for democratic reform. / ■ ' . ■■.= .s 'Bi- ■ ■ ■' f -' < tj' * . -.>^f -K5,0S?1 »v • " ' ■ B74-- . ' '•- ■ • ' ■■■'• • If '■O'.. U^' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Public.Resource.org https://archive.org/details/politicalpartiesOOunse OVERVIEW In this paper we examine • The general argument in support of political parties as cornerstones of democratic governance • In particular, as they perform in India, with special focus on Internal democracy • Recent structural changes in the political sphere • Some issues that need attention i n the futu re The Freedom struggle paved the way for democratic governance by the people, and after Independence universal adult franchise and Parliamentary democracy were as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Political parties are regarded as cornerstones of democratic governance. This paper examines the status and health of India's political parties. The study is based on the premise that political parties are the most crucial pillars for the principles of democracy to be practiced in real life. They offer conduits for the expression of citizens' views. They enable the pursuit of varied social and political goals as also identities that play out their interests in the legislatures and other public fora. They offer vehicles for the socialization of politics. They throw up leadership. There are many variations or different ways in which political parties have been birthed or used In the world. These range from single parties to multi-parties. One strong monolithic party is often justified as being representative of the values and ethos of a liberation movement, wherein its application and use in other countries has emerged out of colonization through freedom struggles. Some justify one party regime as more suitable to societies based on tribes or cultural communities. The argument is that multiparty systems fan the fires of competition and divides, which are unnatural. The landscape examined in this paper however is the multiparty democratic system that Is prevalent in India, with special reference to Its changing character In recent decades. Another premise, on which the examination is based, is a decline in the internal democracy in Indian political parties. This decline has clogged the 1 conduits that political parties ideally offer as sources of expression for the citizen, thus reducing the quality of representation and thereby the quality of Indian democracy. A study of the major national political parties - using Indicators such as elections to Its office bearers, meetings called of members to discuss issues and views and other indicators of Inner party democracy -found that no party came out with a positive report unscathed. There was a pronounced decline on this score in the Congress Party - the oldest and at one time the most respected party. There have been also some positive developments. One such Is that recent electoral outcomes indicate that social groups considered less privileged and "historically - excluded - from power" are emerging as a higher percentage of the elected representatives when compared to the "higher" castes. In turn this is revitalizing the political party as a route to power. The mandate of & 74'^ amendments in the 90's has further challenged the status quo in the highly centralized political parties. These amendments have ushered in lakhs of elected institutions of self-government - nationwide, covering every village and town. They have inducted over three million elected representatives; and because of seat reservations by the amendments, for disadvantaged groups over 45% of the elected representatives are women, dalits and tribals. Repeat over three million elected representatives - politicians, who represent one political party or the other will provide the mass electoral base for the parties and mobilize votes for them. Thus, over time, they are certain to influence the composition and highly centralized - top down, command structure of the national political parties. Alas, with the weakening of Intra-party democracy there is increasing incidence of persons with criminal antecedents being fielded by party bosses for election to Parliament and State Assemblies. Persons with criminal background who have got elected to legislatures, has assumed alarming proportions. Recognizing the danger to our democratic system of governance, the Supreme Court of India Intervened decisively in 2003 to laid down that a 'law-breaker' cannot be allowed to become a 'law-maker'. The apex court accordingly directed the Election Commission to prescribe a declaration on oath by each candidate, along with the Nomination 2 Paper to the legislative bodies, to disclose their criminal and financial antecedents in a prescribed format. This initiative of the apex court is unprecedented. It has opened doors wide for civil society initiatives. The foremost of these has been the birth of independent Election Watch Committees in most States. The Election Commission has allowed the Watch Committees (indeed the public at large) easy access to the disclosures made by the candidates with their nomination papers. The watch committees have begun to compile and analyse the information about the candidates and to disseminate it widely among the voters in a constituency. These civil society networks have begun to attract large number of volunteers including retired judges, administrators, advocates, academicians and activists etc., who had hitherto generally kept away from the political and electoral spheres. Besides, these committees are working in cooperation with the Central Election Commission. Their analytical reports about the background of candidates are also drawing significant media support - vital to reach the citizens. Thus the menace of decay In intra-party democracy and criminalization of politics is now being challenged, and simultaneously the good health and flowering of our nascent democratic plant is being nursed. Democracy and Political parties-the Indian scene This paper argues that political parties are important conduits for true representation of different interests and perspectives of a pluralistic society such as India. Such conduits provide opportunities to debate differences in the legislative bodies, at whatever level - local, state or national, and it distinguishes a democratic system from an authoritarian one. This paper argues further that politics in most countries is inseparable from political parties. Even In many authoritarian societies, there are often strong and influential political parties, albeit state-sponsored and state patronized, with limited or no competition. Only some remaining Sultanates and unabashed dictatorships banning all parties and political activity are free from the influence of political parties.^ 1. Political Parties and Indian Democracy - A Lok Satta Discussion Paper, 2-3 December, 2005 3 It is noteworthy, that while there are several discussions on the role of political parties in particular nations, and the importance or not of such parties, there is little theoretical delineation of the conditions under which parties could play a greater role in creating links between social cleavages and the party system. A reason for the poverty of theory In this area is that the literature on party formation, party system change, and party organization does not explicitly address either the role of the state or associatlonal life.^ Indian political parties are not dissimilar to parties elsewhere as far as their basic pursuit of power Is concerned. As Max Weber pointed out, "modern forms of party organization are the children of democracy, of mass franchise, of the necessity to woo and to organize the masses, and develop the utmost unity of direction." Ideally speaking parties are expected to uphold ethical principles and values in public life. Parties are also meant to draw the masses into political activity and perform the function of political socialization. Parties also bring together disparate groups of people and a variety of interests, and perform the function of aggregation of groups and interest argues a LokSatta discussion paper.^ The paper elaborates: political parties are the arbiters of politics and the nation's fate in a true sense. They exercise enormous influence on public discourse. They occupy endless newspaper space and radio and television time. They have a direct impact on public policy affecting millions of lives. Their espousal of causes, and as is seen more often, their opposition to policies affects almost all state actions. Their agitations on real or contrived issues paralyse all economic and social life. 'Democracy performs its most salient functions through parties', says Prof. Pratap B. Mehta. For example, the selection of candidates, the mobilization of the electorate, the formulation of agendas, the passing of legislation - are all conducted through parties. Parties are, in short, the mechanisms through which power Is exercised in a democracy. In most democracies, parties perform crucial 2. Pradeep K. Chhibber, Democracy Without Associations - Transformation of tbe party system and social cleavages in India, Vistaar Publication, New Delhi, 1999, Chapter one. State Structures, Associational Life, and the Social Basis of Party Systems. 3. Political Parties and Indian Democracy - A Lok Satta Discussion Paper, 2-3 December 2005 4 educative functions. Political leaders used to accepting the discipline and sanctity of democratic procedures within their own parties, are also less likely to circumvent democracy when in government. Moreover, protracted intra-party primaries have a profound impact on party members. If the party platform is put up for serious contestation within the party. It is more likely that party members will know why their party has taken the positions it does. It Is also more likely that the battle within parties will become something more of a battle of ideas rather than a race for patronage.'^ Ajay Mehra et al carry the discussion further. Politics is about meeting 'new' unanticipated challenges all the time... However, the challenges emerging out of economic reforms and statutory Institutionalization of local democracies are new to the extent that they impact the party politics in a way they have never done since Indian democracy got institutionalized and stabilized... despite unseating of the Congress from the portal of power at the Centre and several States, transformation of the 'core structure' of the party systems in India has not taken place. What, actually has happened is that the essential party system has undergone temporary fluctuations. There are changes in the support bases of 'historic parties', an increase in factionalism in the established parties, an increase in the number of splinter parties, an increase in the number of 'relevant parties', and so on. It may, therefore, be appropriate to conclude that there has only been a 'restricted change' In the party systems in India.^ KC Suri provides a fulsome overview of the state of India's Political Parties.® The domain of political parties In India has undergone amazing transformation since the time the country became a democratic republic. With the metamorphosis of the old parties, and in some cases their decline, demise or reincarnation, and the emergence of a large number of significant new parties, the party system has changed beyond comparison between what it was in the middle of the 20‘^ century and what it Is now. From a time when the 4. In Reform political parties first, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, 2-3 December, 2005. 5. Ajay K Mehra, D.D. Khanna, Gert W. Kueck, Political Parties and Party Systems, 2003 6. Parties Under Pressure- Political Parties in India since Independence, KC Suri, Prof. Political Science at Nagarajuna University, Andhra, Lokniti, Working paper No. 1, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), 2005 5 political scientists and commentators had worked out theories of one- party dominance or felt anxious about the conduciveness of such a party system for democracy to blossom, we have now reached a situation where too many parties stampede and jostle for space in the party domain. Some see it as a natural, if not desirable, development due to the dynamics of the world's most populous democracy marked by great diversity, cultural pluralism and economic underdevelopment. Others see in It fragmentation and decay of the polity, and apprehend a danger to democracy, to the unity of the country and the stability of governments. Indeed the plural and federal character of our polity has been asserting itself in the party domain for quite some time. Of the 50 parties that are now recognized as National and State parties, 44 have been founded after Independence. Table 1: Number of parties recognized, participated in the Lok Sabha elections and represented in the Lok Sabha after Independence Year Participated Recognised parties Reoresented With With in the at at National State Total election least least 10 lO/o seats vote share 1952 53 14 39 53 22 3 10 1957 15 4 11 15 12 3 6 1962 27 5 11 17 20 5 8 1967 25 7 14 21 18 8 9 1971 53 8 17 25 24 7 11 1977 34 5 15 20 18 4 8 198 36 6 19 25 17 7 8 1984 33 7 17 24 21 5 12 1989 113 8 20 28 24 6 10 1991 145 9 28 37 24 7 10 1996 209 8 30 38 28 11 13 1998 176 7 30 37 39 8 16 1999 169 7 40 47 38 11 15 2004 230 6 36 42 40 10 15 [Source: Data Unit, Lokniti-CSDS, Delhi] Although the theories of one-party dominant system reigned for two decades after Independence, it can be said with the benefit of hindsight, says Suri, that multi-party democracy had its embryonic 6