How to Make Democracy Work
For anyone interested in the healthy working of the Indian democracy, there is a superb interview of N. Gopalaswami, the Chief Election Commissioner, in Indian Express, when he spoke to Shekhar Gupta on NDTV's 'Walk the Talk' show.  He put the recent UP elections, which saw remarkably low violence, in perspective, expressed worry at criminalisation of politics and gave some radical suggestions to overcome the fractured electorate phenomenon throwing up surprising winners.

Having seen the hurly-burly of elections in my younger days, when as a field officer, I was responsible for law and order arrangements in a sub-division or district, I can say that elections in India can be very educating to know about the deep rooted political process and the logistical challenges of conducting peaceful polling.  Not all memories are pleasant, of course, and many times one came across real dilemmas, which had to be solved using one's set of values.

Of course, elections are once-in-five-years phenomenon, but the real test of democracy is how empowered the citizens feel rest of the time.  Atany Dey has captured this thought well in his blog post: 'Cargo Cult and Democracy.'

In the case of India, we have a cargo cult democracy. It looks like one with electronic voting machines and election speeches and manifestos, with pollsters and pundits, with election commissioners and voting stations. Only the deep backend is missing. There is no understanding of issues of substance among the people who vote. Put up a name which is recognizable, and they would vote for or against that name. Promise enough freebies (free electricity, for instance) and they will vote for you, never mind that it may bankrupt the state and that eventually it will impoverish the same voting public. For democracy to work, you need accountability—both among those who vote and those who are elected. In an area where the government is seen as a source for endless handouts by the people, and the leaders look upon their stint in the driving seat as an excellent opportunity to steal from the public, democracy is not likely to work. All the talk about the smart voter is so much hogwash that the mind boggles.

Many middle class educated people feel that if they were to come out and vote in full numbers, they will be able to elect the right candidates and stem the rot in the political system.  I disagree with this: while the middle class has grown numerically, it is still too small to make a decisive difference in election results.  In most situations, the candidates put up by different parties have little to differentiate between themselves.  In a scenario where caste and regional identities are still strong, it will be unreaslistic to expect voting patterns based purely on merit.  In any case, this occasional rising from slumber can go only so far.  What is required is participating in the community affairs, to put pressure on the elected representatives and the administration to work according to the law of the land.  This requires understanding the way government works and how it can be influenced.  The recent Right to Information Act is a very important tool for this, but there are other approches as well.