Civil society: Indian elections and democracy today

Abstract

Civil society in Independent India has perhaps never been as active as it is today, except in the years before and during the emergency. We explore the role it has played in strengthening and deepening democracy. We focus largely on the work done on introducing transparency, and on raising voter awareness. As a result of this work, a lot of public data is available on the extent of crime and money in elections and politics. We analyze this and point out some implications for democracy and good governance. A brief outline of developments since Independence shows that the number of parties has grown considerably along with crime and money. As the number of parties, it became possible to win elections with a lower vote share, making it easy for big money to influence or buy a smaller fraction of votes. Meanwhile as population grew, an elected MP now represents over 15 lakh voters on average, and an MLA over 2 lakh. This is the largest number by far anywhere in the world. The data on candidates and elected representatives' criminal and financial record is analyzed in this context. It shows that the chances of winning increase considerably for candidates with more wealth. Unfortunately it also shows that those with serious criminal cases pending against them also have a higher chance of winning. The average wealth of over 62,800 candidates analyzed is Rs.1.37 crores, which goes up to Rs. 2.03 crores for third place candidates, Rs.2.47 crores for runners up, Rs.3.8 crores for winners, Rs.4.27 crores for winners with a criminal record, and Rs.4.38 crores for winners with serious criminal cases. Meanwhile, data from India's largest ever citizen survey of over 262,000 people on various aspects of governance show that people are unhappy with Government. There are gaps in the roles civil society has played so far, and some strategic choices it needs to make. We discuss the way forward in this context. If this is done well, change is possible.