Author: Rafid Akhter, III Year of B.A.,LL.B(Hons.) From Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.
Co-author: Anis Ahmad, III Year of B.A.,LL.B(Hons.) From Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.
"In a democracy every citizen should play an equal role in decision-making. For that you simply don't need just an equal right to vote. Every citizen needs to have equal information, basic education, equal resources and lots of commitment”. All the resources, freedom, right to vote, and right to live freely come with a cost and this cost is to form a government. We can form a government by the people’s choice through free and fair elections in a country.
In a democracy, it is neither possible nor requisite for people to govern directly. The most favored form of democracy in modern times is for the people to govern through their representatives. An election is the only instrument that demarcates and creates a thin line between democracy and other forms of rule. An election is a mechanism or procedure by which individuals choose their representatives at regular intervals. In elections, the voters have the power to choose who will form the government. Each vote has equal value; election can result in the changes within the policy of the government. Elections take place regularly in any democracy. An election is a medium through which a peaceful transfer of power with the consent and choice of the majority takes place. In a democracy, in all democratic countries, all the people do not rule. A majority is allowed to take decisions on behalf of all the people. Even the majority does not rule directly. The majority of people rule through their elected representatives. It becomes necessary because every citizen in a country cannot participate physically and take collective decisions. Whether or not the citizens have time to come back and participate but they're going to lack the required skills required in decision making. Seeing all this, the right to vote and take part in elections is a component of basic human rights.
Elections earlier and now are organized with integrity for strengthening democracy, for the development of an individual as well as the nation at all levels be it regional, national, and international levels. Elections in a country are a symbol and sign of peace and freedom. It works as a promotion of democracy. All the developing nations like to work with the countries that fulfill the mandate of fundamental rule of democracy. Taking an example of China, most of the countries avoid building and maintaining relations with China. Even though China is a mega giant but it controls the freedom of its citizens which results in controlling the election in the country. Considering a country like India or New Zealand where the people of the country are given utmost freedom with limited restrictions, every country in the world demands to be maintaining a relation with these countries. In the countries in which elections are held with utmost faith and no malfunction, the principle of democracy is honored: citizens select their representatives and hold them accountable. Where the government is formed with malice and therefore the public is denied "equal opportunity to participate." The citizens tend to lose faith in the government and the system of democracy as well. When the Donald Trump government in the United States of America was willingly working on its own and without paying heed to the demand of its citizens, the citizens lost their faith in the government and resulting in a huge win to Joe Biden’s party and making him the new president of the country.
Democracy relies on a fundamental principle of political equality that gives the feature that every adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value. Representatives elected by the people take all major decisions. Elections offer a choice and fair opportunity for the people to change the current elected members. These options and choices are available to all the people on an equal basis. The practice of this election limits the government to the constitution and the basic rules of civil rights.
When it comes to elections in a democracy, the elected candidate has to respond to the needs of the people and it does not depend on the need of the people who rule. A democracy requires that rulers have to attend the needs of the people and hence they are accountable to the people. The election is a way of expressing the political views of the citizens of a country. In a democracy the rule of hierarchy or one family rule ends. Nobody in today’s scenario wish to promote the welfare of a single family instead people choose the one who is capable of representing the nation at all levels. If you see countries like Swaziland and Tonga which base themselves on basis of Monarch rule, they are not at the top of any index leading to growth. The condition of these countries is known to the whole world. They are ranked lowest in the list of countries in terms of development. All the top developed countries are non-monarchial in nature.
Elections in a democracy are required because it removes the problem of education, economy, medical facilities and all those requirements which a citizen wants. The election in a democracy is merely successful when it is providing viable opportunities to its citizens. An Election conducting body or commission is involved to have regular elections at equal an interval which helps in improving the legal and institutional framework of elections
Not only does election have positive implications but also negative as well: lot of low-income earners in the rural areas, who usually make up the majority of the electorate, are often fooled by filthy and greedy politicians and thus are not able to distinguish a good party's representative from a not-so-good one. After the election are over when finally the head of a nation gets elected, we usually happens to see that all the promises made by these politicians to win the elections and it come out as a façade. The promises so promised just vanishes in air as the smoke from the burning wood Therefore, every citizen should pay great attention to the procedure and process of election in the country and avoid letting themselves get deceived and deluded. An election in a democracy is the most favorable opportunity seen by leaders to change the future of any country.
Election during a democracy is vital to the standard of nation’s governance which may either move the country forward or can create a back log or setback to country’s long-term democratic development plan. An Election is claimed to be a serious contributing factor and a crucial tenet of democracy. This can be actually because democracy essentially involves an inevitable pattern of state during which leaders are chosen directly or indirectly by the people through the method of elections. However, despite the important role of elections in every democratic process, the thought itself is claimed to be shrouded with certain complexities and challenges, as witnessed in most Third World or developing societies.
It sometimes seems that India has lost its true spirit of Elections currently. The way in which the political dogma has reached by world is in bad light. India recently fallen 26 spots down to 105 ranks in Global Freedom Index recently which in itself portrays a clear picture of condition and situation in India. The government plays its cards and satisfies its voters only in the years when the next turn for election comes and resulting to build new vote banks. If an artist is asked to paint a picture of today’s scenario for country like India, he will paint the picture with red and black which is clear indication of blood bath, corruption and mob rule. A hint can be taken from the picture painted which clearly focuses on polarization and differences among communities. Removing Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian Constitution, the government has not only made fun of sovereignty and democracy but also it has rendered a fatal blow and left the poor weekend and toothless.
Election could also be a platform which creates patterns of peaceful transfer of power in the event of changes within the political frame. It is a platform for unique opportunity to scrutinize the government, renew or withdraw its mandate to rule and, therefore, cause power alternation. Elections compute opinion of the public. Therefore, we can say election is heart of democracy. Elections are chapters of political action during which the fondness of citizens and the conduct of politicians, based on their past work record and their future promises, meets and interact. Election indeed acts as oxygen to a democracy. From time to time it emits black tar and carbon (corrupt politicians) from the democracy. Without oxygen a human cannot survive likewise without elections a democracy is of no worth.