What’s the say of people once the govt is elected?
Democracy is “statically” the best available option to run a nation. But how is it working for us?
Most of the major democracies around the world follow a somewhat similar structure of democracy with some variations.
The Greek historian Polybius, analysed the Roman empire based on three sections: Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy.
The Monarchy to rule the people, the Aristocracy to make laws, and Democracy consisted of the people being ruled.
Based on this, Montesquieu developed the concept of Separation of Power(SoP) to demarcate the powers of the three pillars of Democracy i.e the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary.
There are different checks and balances around the world to keep each pillar of democracy in check by the other two.
Let’s take the example of the USA to understand the role of these checks and balances.
22nd amendment to the US constitution(1951)
The first half of the 20th century saw a rising trend of dictatorship all around the world. From Hitler in Germany, to Benito Mussolini in Italy, to Hirohito in Japan, there was a changing order from Monarchy to Dictatorship.
Seeing this and the two devastating world wars due to that, the US legislature came up with a check on the executive to adapt with the changing times.
After the worries of President Franklin D. Roosevelt winning the fourth term and the possibility of an elected monarchy, the 22nd amendment was enacted in 1951 to limit the presidential terms to a maximum of two.
This amendment is a major landmark for the democracy of the US, as a numerical limit to power not only eliminates the scope of dictatorial tendencies but it also forces presidents to function better, so as to mark their names in the history of a nation.
Other such changes have also taken place around the world to improve the functioning of democracy.
Be it the Basic Structure Doctrine of Indian judiciary, or the Constitutional Council of France, Democracy continues to improve.
Let’s first understand the functioning of the three pillars of democracy in relation with time.
After which, we will analyse the importance of people’s voice and the steps we can take to promote it.
Time and Democracy
The functioning of a State is dependent equally on the three pillars of executive, legislative, and judiciary.
The understanding of what the society needs, how to frame laws, and to assess the validity of the laws made, are all equally important parts of running a country.
Legislature and Past
Law making is a very tedious process that requires extensive research, data collection and analysis, and inputs from experts of many industries.
Apart from that, judging the implications of a law for all the stakeholders involved, is a task that remains in controversy all around the world.
The Legislature makes laws based on what is acceptable by society, growth of technology, and other legal/illegal things happening in society.
We can say that when society experiences something negative, a law is made to rectify it and prevent such incidents from happening again.
The maternity leave scheme is a result of promoting equality in the workplace.
Or the laws against discrimination (racial, caste, or gender) are a result of historical issues in society.
Thus, the legislature works majorly based on the PAST.
Executive and Present
The executive is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the state.
From identifying the issues plaguing the society to the implementation of laws made by the legislature, the executive runs the machinery of any government.
I think it’s very clear that the executive works in the PRESENT.
Judiciary and Future
The judiciary that holds the conscience of the Constitution in a democracy, judges the implementation of laws and executive actions.
It sees whether the laws enacted are beneficial for the nation and in line with the ethos of the constitution.
The judiciary is also an unbiased interlocutor doing justice based on the present situation and past experiences.
Assessing laws ethically and verifying them from the principles a nation follows, is how the judiciary shapes the FUTURE of a nation.
Which is why a newly enacted law is usually given time to see its implications on society.
People and Power
Now that we have an understanding of how democracy works relative to time, let’s get to the voice of the people.
Democracy solely relies on giving power to the people. People elect their representative, the state works for the people, and the nation is made of the people only.
All of this emphasises the need of giving more power to the people.
There are mechanisms in place to raise the voice of people to the government.
For example, the civil society works for the vulnerable sections of the society and presents their issues to the establishment.
The unbiased news agencies showcase the ground reality to the people, allowing them to ask questions.
And on top of that, there is the new age tool of Social Media that gives a voice to all of us on the issues of society. The voice is creating a change or not, that is
But in the process of deliberating law, formulating policy, and its implementation, the people of a country have almost negligible role.
Once the government is elected, the power gets concentrated in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats.
There have been great leaders all around the world who worked for the welfare of people, keeping their own benefits out of it. But for majority of the cases, the balance is shifted towards the people in power.
In case of countries like Syria, Bangladesh, or India, the systemic corruption presses the voice of people down to the levels of ignorance and neglect.
If everyone is a part of the problem, then there is no problem at all. That’s what systemic corruption does to a country.
This creates a situation where Public Welfare, rather than being a ‘Right’ of the citizen, is considered mercy of the people in power.
The only thing missing for welfare to be a right is for people to have a say in the policy making of a country.
It might have been impossible to have a say of everyone in the 19th or 20th century but now in a world of cryptography, digital voting, and Internet, the views of every community living an area can be considered for the welfare of that area.
Deliberate Democracy
This idea stems from the theory of Deliberate Democracy that emphasise debate and discussion amongst the citizen, allowing consensus and collective decision making.
New York has started a system of ‘rank based voting’ that allows incorporation of every vote in the election process rather than deciding by majority.
So basically, every person votes multiple candidates based on their preference and a cumulative score is calculated for each candidate.
The candidate with the highest cumulative score wins the election and he/she is a choice of the whole electoral bank, not just the majority of the voters.
Allowing every vote to have a say in the electoral process, deepens the roots of democracy, while the winning candidate is a choice made by all sections of society collectively.
The participation in local wards is also one such system that allows a bottom up approach in policy making. Although the system is used more for political gain, if utilised correctly it can be a platform for people to make laws as per their needs.
Democracy is always evolving as more and more power is being given in the hands of people.
Giving power to the people can be a collective solution for issues of corruption, development, welfare, and unbiased functioning of a government.
Lets keep striving for more such ways of giving power to the people.
Share your views on how we can develop democracy to create more inclusive and equal societies. Stay connected for more such topics.
