ELECTIONS AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR: CHANGING DIMENSIONS IN INDIA

Meena Rathaur
Dr., Principal, Shri Bhawani Niketan Girls P.G. College, University of Rajasthan, India, meenarathaur74@gmail.com

Abstract

One of the most important features of our democratic framework is 'Election' which is held at a systematic period. The electoral system in any country should support and strengthen the empowerment of the people of the country to use the system to guarantee an equitable framework of economic and social justice.

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 at all the three levels (National, State and Local level). Voting is one of the most commonly used terms in contemporary age of democratic politics as it shows a formal expression of an individual's choice for or against a certain candidate or political party during the elections. In a limited way, voting refers to the function of electing representatives by casting votes in elections. Frequent and highly competitive elections based on universal adult franchise have become the hallmark of Indian Democracy- the largest of the world. It is an acknowledged fact that contrary to the history of most modern representative democracies which began with the right to vote from exclusion to inclusion. India stands out as a triumphant democracy by providing non-discriminatory Right to Vote to every citizen of India from the very inception of its constitution.

In contradistinction to many of the countries in its neighbourhood and beyond, India has not resorted to coups or revolutions to change government but has done so through ‘ballot’ rather than ‘bullet’. When some of the Western democracies are found suffering from ‘democratic deficit’. Faith in democratic process finds manifestation in the exponentially increasing voter turnouts in the national, provincial and local level elections in the country.

The active political participation of the citizens of India during the elections, have succeeded in electing and rejecting governments legitimizing representative democratic system of the country. But this Indian story of elections and journey of voter participation has not been limited to numbers or statistics alone, qualitative changes are also being witnessed since the last decade of the 20th century, wiz post 73rdand 74thAmendments where after the electoral participation has been expanded to the 3rd tier - grass root level - of government along with reservation of seats for women. Thus electoral & participatory democracy has acquired a new connotations and the voting behavior of people is perceptibly affecting the Indian democratic system highlighting its strengths and also exposing its faultiness.  Besides the traditional factors that have hitherto influenced voting behavior such as religion, caste, community, language, money, muscle power, ideology, political wave etc. There are other factors which have tremendously impacted voting behavior during the preceding decade. Apart from this, the role of Election Commission and a few electoral reforms have also augured far reaching changes in the electoral process and also party system in the country.

The constitutionally established autonomous multimember election commission of India in attempting to ensure ‘free and fair elections’ has become extremely vigilant even adopting an ‘activist’ role. The audio visual media is also playing a defining role in ‘creating‘, ‘demolishing’ and ‘affecting’ public opinion.

This paper besides scrutinizing the overall political culture of the country has specifically focused on the critical issues pertaining to elections and changes being witnessed in the voting behaviour of the citizen in the country

Keywords: Democracy, elections, election commission, voting behaviour