Elections and Representation, Class11th

 ELECTION AND REPRESENTATION 

Q1. What is Election? 

Ans:- The method through which the people choose their representative is known as Election.  Elections are very important in a democracy. It is a process of voting to choose their representative or their political leader. 

Two Types of Election: Direct and Indirect Election

Direct Election: In the direct type of elections, all the voters participate in the elections of their representative. 

Indirect Election: In the case of indirect election, the elected members of the people further elect their representatives. 

2. Why do we need elections?

Need and Importance of Election-

i. It creates a political competition among parties and candidates.

ii. It gives oppurtunities to deserving and capable people to represent.

iii. Election gives an opportunity to political parties to form government.

iv. People have got opportunity to elect their representative as they wish.

v. Even independent candidates get a chance to contest election and win. No Stable and welfare state would exist without election. A state is free from anarchy without election.

vi. An autocracy, monarchy or dictatorship would preserve without election. 

3. What makes an election democratic?

Several conditions are required to make an election democratic. Democratic and non – democratic regimes hold some sort of elections. 

Following Conditions makes an election Democratic:

1. Every citizen should have the right to choose on the basis of one person, one vote and one value.

2. There should be existence of political parties and people should have a choice to elect representatives. Candidates should be free to contest elections.

3. Elections must be held periodically. 

4. Candidates preferred by people should get elected.

5. Elections should be held in a free and fair manner.

All the above mentioned points make an election democratic.

Describe the concept Democracy? 

Ans.  The modem period is considered as the age of democracy where participation of people ensured at every level of government. In the words of Abraham Lincoln. “Democracy the government of the people, for the people and by the people”. 

• Democracy can be classified into two types, i.e. Direct Democracy and Indirect Democracy. 

DIRECT DEMOCRACY 

1.. It exist in a country where people make their own laws and appoint government  personal directly.

2.. It exist in small states 

3..  It is real democracy.

4.. It is not possible inmodetn democracies,  since size of the countries has become large along with large population and other complex problems.

For exp- Greek city states, Swiss cantons

INDIRECT DEMOCRACY 

1.. Indirect democracy the people do not participate directly but they participate indirectly through their elected representatives who act in accordance with the wishes of the people.

2.. It exist in large states.

3.. It is representative democracy.

4.. it immersed because it is not possible to elect representatives at one single place in large scale and was size countries for example it exist in modern democracy like India USA.

ELECTION SYSTEM IN INDIA

1. India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government and at the heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections.

2. India is a largest democratic country in the world having largest population, large number of people participated in the election process after every five year.

3. These elections determine the composition of the government, the membership of the two houses of parliament, the state and union territory, legislative assemblies, and the Presidency and Vice-Presidency.

4. Elections in India are events involving political mobilization and organizational complexity on an amazing scale.

5. In India there are two methods of elections which are widely used:

I. First Past the Post System (FPTP)

Election for the Lok Sabha (General elections), MP’s members of legislative Assembly (MLA’s) are conducted through FPTP system method.

2. Proportional Representation System(PR)

Election for Rajya Sabha (MP’s) Members of Legislative Council (MLC’s), President and Vice-President are conducted by PR method.

FIRST PAST THE POST SYSTEM (FPTP)

The First Past the Post system is the simplest form of plurality/majority system, using single member districts and candidate-centered voting. The voter is presented with the names of the nominated candidates and votes by choosing one, and only one, of them. 

The winning candidate is simply the person who wins the most votes; in theory he or she could be elected with two votes, if every other candidate only secured a single vote. Along with the UK, the cases most often analyses are Canada, India, and the United States.

Under this system:

I. The entire country is divided into 543 constituencies;

II. Each constituency elects one representative; and

III. sThe candidate who secures the highest number of votes in that constituency is declared elected.

IV. It is important to note that in this system whoever has more votes than all other candidates is declared elected.

V. The winning candidate need not secure a majority of the votes. This method is called the First Past the Post (FPTP) system.

VI. In the electoral race, the candidate who is ahead of others, who crosses the winning post first of all, is the winner.

VII. This method is also called the Plurality System. This is the method of election prescribed by the Constitution.

VIII. In FPTP system the candidate need not to get majority vote (50%+1), if candidates has highest vote then the other candidate he will be declared elected.

IX. In multiparty system like India, no candidates get majority votes because voters gets divided.

Example: if there are five parties or candidates contest election in one constituency….

Advantages of FPTP System

 This is simple for the electorate to understand the voting process and it is easy to operate.

 There is quick-results of election can be counted quickly (makes the power from on party to another quick and easy).

 There is very little chances of extremist parties being elected to parliament under FPTP.

 It is It establishes a clear link between representatives and constituencies.

 It allows governments that are formed to have a clear mandate, of course, on the basis of plurality of support amongst the election.

 There is accountability enhanced.

Disadvantages of FPTP System

 The number of votes cast for a party in general elections is not accurately reflected in the number of seats won.

 The smaller parties are unfairly treated under FPTP system.

 Encourages tactical voting for a party other than your preferred party purely to prevent a particular party from being elected). The main emphasizes is focus on major parties.

 Many votes are wasted, especially those cast for losing candidates.

 It undermines the legitimacy of government so far as governments are based only on minority support.

 In such a system some social groups specially minorities may go under represented.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION SYSTEM (PR SYSTEM):

Proportional representation is a system used to elect a country’s government. This means the results of an election decides directly how many seats to each party has got.

Each elected representative will be member of one or another party. If one party ha an overall majority, then it forms the government.

Under this system:

 Each party prepares a list of candidates for each constituency, depending on how many have to be elected from that constituency.

 Each party fills its quota of seats by picking those many of its nominees from preferences list that has been declared before the election.

 In both these variations, voters exercise their preference for a party and not a candidate. The seats in a constituency are distributed on the basis of votes polled by a party. Thus, representatives from a constituency, would and do belong to different parties.

 In this system, a party gets the same proportion of seats as its proportion of votes.

 In India, we have adopted PR system on a limited scale for indirect elections.

 The Constitution prescribes a third and complex variation of the PR system for the election of President, Vice President, and for the election to the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishads.

Under The PR System,

 List system: under the list system, the entire country is considered as a single constituency or is divided into a large number of multi member constituencies. Parties are allocated seats in direct proportion to the votes they get in the election. 

 For instance, if the number of votes to be cast is 1, 00, 000 and the seats to be filled is 10, then the quota would be 1,00,000/10=10,000vote.

 Single Transferable Vote System: There are Multi-member constituencies. Parties put up as many candidates as there are seats to fill in each constituency. Voters vote on the basis of preferences giving rank to candidates in order of preference. To be elected, candidates require a fixed quota of votes.

The number of votes needed to be elected is calculated according to the following formula:

 Quota = Total votes polled+1

Total number of Candidates to be elcted+1

For example, if 1, 00,000 votes are casts in a constituency to elect 4 members, the quota of votes will be

= 1,00,000/(4+1)+1 = 1,00,000/5+1 = 20,000 + 1 = 20,001

 Merits

 A> It ensures that all parties are proportionally represented in the Legislature.

 B> It secures the rights of minorities.

 C> It is in true harmony with the spirit of democracy.

 D> It ensures that votes are not wasted.

 Demerits

 A> It is complex system and is difficult to operate

 B> The direct bond between voters and their representative is reduced as it is based on multi-member constituencies.

 C> It leads to formation of a large number of small parties leading to coalitions.

 D> It leads to unstable coalition which destroys the homogeneity of government and makes parliamentary government impossible.

PR System in Rajya Sabha

 In India, PR system has been adopted for electing members to Rajya Sabha on

the basis of Single Transferable Vote system.

 Each state has a fixed voter of seats for Rajya Sabha.

 The members are elected by the respective State Legislative Assemblies.

Voters include the MLA’s of the State.

 Each voter ranks candidate in order of his or her preference.

 To be declared winner, a candidate is required to get a specific quota of votes.

Why India did adopted the FPTP system of representation?

Ans. Both FPTP system and PR system have their merits and demerits. In India, PR system has been adopted for the election of President, Vice – President and members of Rajya Sabha. India has adopted the FPTP system of representation because of the following reasons:

I. The reason for the popularity and success of the FPTP system is its simplicity.

II. The entire election system is extremely simple to understand even for common voters who may have no specialized knowledge about politics and elections.

III. There is also a clear choice presented to the voters at the time of elections.

IV. Voters have to simply endorse a candidate or a party while voting.

V. Depending on the nature of actual politics, voters may either give greater importance to the party or to the candidate or balance the two.

VI. The FPTP system offers voters a choice not simply between parties but specific candidates.

VII. In other electoral systems, especially PR systems, voters are often asked to choose a party and the representatives are elected on the basis of party lists.

VIII. As a result, there is no one representative who represents and is responsible for one locality.

IX. In constituency based system like the FPTP, the voters know who their own representative is and can hold him or her accountable.

Why not PR System?

I. PR based election may not be suitable for giving a stable government in a parliamentary system.

II. This system requires that the executive has majority in the legislature.

III. The PR system may not produce a clear majority because seats in the legislature would be divided on the basis of share of votes.

IV. In a diverse country like India, a PR system would encourage each community to form its own nation-wide party.

V. This may also have been at the back of the mind of our constitution makers that the experience of the working of the Constitution has confirmed the expectation of the constitution makers.

Why FPTP System?

I. The FPTP system generally gives the largest party or coalition some extra bonus seats, more than their share of votes would allow.

II. This system makes it possible for parliamentary government to function smoothly and effectively by facilitating the formation of a stable government.

III. The FPTP system encourages voters from different social groups to come together to win an election in a locality.

IV. The FPTP system has proved to be simple and familiar to ordinary voters. It has helped larger parties to win clear majorities at the center and the State level.

V. The system has also discouraged political parties that get all their votes only from one caste or community.

In this respect, the experience of FPTP in India is slightly different. After independence, though we adopted the FPTP system, there emerged a one party dominance and along with it, there existed many smaller parties. After 1989, India is witnessing the functioning of the multiparty

Coalitions. At the same time, gradually, in many States, a two-party competition is emerging. But the distinguishing feature of India’s party system is that the rise of coalitions has made it possible for new and smaller parties to enter into electoral competition in spite

of the FPTP system.

RESERVATION OF THE CONSTITUENCIES

I. In this system, all voters in a constituency are eligible to vote but the candidates must belong to only a particular community or social section for which the seat is reserved.

II. The Constitution provides for reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

III. This provision was made initially for a period of 10 years and as a result of successive constitutional amendments, has been extended up to 2020.

IV. The Parliament can take a decision to further extend it, when the period of reservation expires.

V. The number of seats reserved for both of these groups is in proportion to their share in the population of India.

VI. Of the 543 elected seats in the Lok Sabha, 84 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Who decides which constituency is to be reserved? On what basis is this decision taken?

I. This decision is taken by an independent body called the Delimitation Commission.

II. The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.

III. It is appointed for the purpose of drawing up the boundaries of constituencies all over the country. A quota of constituencies to be reserved in each State is fixed depending on the proportion of SC or ST in that State.

IV. After drawing the boundaries, the Delimitation Commission looks at the composition of population in each constituency.

V. Those constituencies that have the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribe population are reserved for ST.

VI. In the case of Scheduled Castes, the Delimitation Commission looks at two things. It picks constituencies that have higher proportion of Scheduled Caste population. But it also spreads these constituencies in different regions of the State.

VII. This is done because the Scheduled Caste population is generally spread evenly throughout the country. These reserved constituencies can be rotated each time the Delimitation exercise is undertaken.

Who is the voter? Who can contest elections?

I. Ans. We know that democratic elections require that all adult citizens of the country must be eligible to vote in the elections. This is known as universal adult franchise.

II. One of the important decisions of the framers of the Indian Constitution was to guarantee every adult citizen in India, the right to vote.

III. Till 1989, an adult Indian meant an Indian citizen above the age of 21.

IV. An amendment to the Constitution in 1989, reduced the eligibility age to 18.

V. Adult franchise ensures that all citizens are able to participate in the process of selecting their representative.

RIGHT TO CONTEST ELECTION

I. All citizens have the right to stand for election and become the representative of the people.

II. There are different minimum age requirements for contesting elections. For example, in order to stand for Lok Sabha or Assembly election, a candidate must be at least 25 years old.

III. There is a legal provision that a person who has undergone imprisonment for two or more years for some offence is disqualified from contesting elections.

IV. There are no restrictions of income, education or class or gender on the right to contest elections. In this sense, our system of election is open to all citizens

Q. Critically evaluate the concept of Universal Adult Franchise? How it is important?

Ans. Universal Adult Suffrage refers to the right to vote given to all adult citizens without any distinction of caste, class, colour, creed, language, religion, etc. It has faced some criticisms also:

• Right to vote is a special privilege to confer on those who utilize it for the welfare of the state. Hence, it should be conferred only to the educated persons and illiterate persons should be debarred from it because they cannot understand who the best candidate for the state is.

• The Universal Adult Suffrage establishes the government of fools because fools and ignorant form the majority in the society which can create some dangerous consequences in the state.

• All the people should not be given the right to vote equally and to contest elections as well because God has not created everybody equal.

• The right to vote should be extended to those persons only who are competent or capable of using it because it is a responsibility not the right and a responsibility cannot be extended to the incompetent persons.

• The Universal Adult Suffrage leads to corruption because contesting and voting, both are usually made on the bases of money and muscle power by dominating the poor the downtrodden people.

ELECTION COMMISSION

Election commission is a constitutional body who referred an article 324 of the Indian constitution which provides for an independent election commission for the superintendent directions and control of the electoral and the conduct of the election in India. 

In the beginning it was made a single member commission but the constitutional amendment this commission is made multi member commission with one chief election commissioner and two other election commissioners all have equal powers.

Q. What is the composition of Election Commission of India?

Answer: The composition of Election Commission of India

• The Election Commission consists of Chief Election Commissioner and the number of other Election Commissioners may also be fixed by the president from time to time.

• Thus, the Election Commission may be single member or multi member body. Till 1989, the Election Commission was a single member body.

• In 1993, two more Election Commissioners were also appointed and become multimember body since then.

• The Chief Election Commissioner presides over the Election Commission, but the other Election Commissioners also enjoy the same power to work mainly on consensus as a collective body only.

• The constitution of India has ensured independence of Election Commission and declared it can important body to conduct free and fair elections.

Q. Explain the role of Election Commission of India.

Answer: The role of Election Commission can be summarized as follows:

• The Election Commission controls over the election machinery to conduct free and fair elections as supervises and makes changes if needed in the electoral rules of the elections.

• The Election Commission prepares the voters’ list who enjoy the right to vote as well as considers objections also to be raised by voters in reference of voters’ list.

• Election Commission provides the election symbols to the political parties as well as to independent candidates. As Congress (I) has been assigned the symbol of hand and lotus has been provided to BJP. The independent candidates are provided symbols on temporary basis.

• The Election Commission declares and recognizes the political parties as national or regional.

How does the Election Commission of India ensure its independence?

Answer: The Election Commission ensures its independence by the following provisions

• Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners and Regional Election Commissioners are appointed for a fixed term.

• The Chief Election Commissioner cannot be removed from his office before the expiry of his term except on the grounds of incapacity and misbehavior only if a resolution to this effect is passed by both the houses of parliament by a two-third majority.

• Other Election Commissioners and Regional Election Commissioners can be removed from the Office only on the recommendations of the Chief Election Commissioner.

• Salaries and other allowances of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are to be paid out of consolidated fund of India.

• Tenure and other service conditions of Chief Election Commissioner and others, are fixed by the president, but they cannot be changed to their disadvantage during their term of office.

Q. Suggest some major suggestions for electoral reforms.

Answer:The various committees have worked on electoral reforms, i.e. the Goswami Committee and Tarkunde Committee, but these have not brought substantial changes in electoral system and law. 

It seems that political parties are indifferent to electoral reforms because in some cases, political parties have neutralized the steps taken by the Election Commission to bring in some desired changes. 

It is now widely recognized to preserve and strengthen the democratic setup a comprehensive agenda of reforms is necessary in system, structure and processes:

• Criminalization should be checked in politics.

• Political parties’ functions should be regulated.

• Voters’ participation and awareness should be ensured.

• Make the election machinery effective and credible.

• The use of money and muscle power should be stopped.

• A proportionate share to every class, section and society should also be provided in the parliament.