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7/27/2019 Shaji's Review of Electoral Systems
1/5
3/12/2014 10:26:00 PM
Book Review
A Case for Proportional Representation in India
Shaji K.
M C Raj, Electoral Systems Proportional Representation for India, Green Ink,
Bangalore, 2013
Dr. J.M. Lyngdoh, former Chief Election Commissioner of India comments fromexperience that most Indians have a closed mind when it comes to Proportional
Representation (PR) and hopes this book will make us rethink about FPTP system
which to him is the cause of misgovernance and rot in the country. Kare Vollan
(Norway) agrees with Dr. Lyngdoh when he says that parliamentarians hate to
change the system which brings them to power. Vollan says that mindsets need to
change and as a foreigner viewing Indias current electoral system he finds First Past
The Post (FPTP) failing when it comes to inclusiveness and affirmative action. PR he
feels is a system that promulgates diversity without being unnecessarily divisive.
In this book Raj sets for himself an ambitious task, namely, to trace the trajectory of
power and people through different epochs of the emergence of postmodern
democracy in the first part, then moves on to give us an overview of electoral
systems that prevail in many countries in the second part and finally in the third part,
outlining how Proportional Representation, the most suitable system of
representation for contemporary India, can be implemented.
Raj begins with early communities, popularly called indigenous communities, where
ownership or distribution of material and spiritual values was communitarian and not
the allocation of entitlements to individuals, which is the rule in modern societies.
Direct democracy was possible in those communities. Raj reasons that the transition
to representative democracy and to the other forms of governance, which occupied
the stage at various periods in human progress was due to the expansion of
population. Territorial expansion may also have been another cause. This resulted in
people who at one time made their own decisions becoming objects of decisions
made by others. In Rajs words, a hitherto unknown political paradigm, power as
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dominance emerged. Monarchy and Feudalism encouraged this. To counter this
oppression became a pressing need and power as resistance emerged. This led to
enlightenment in the Western world and to the collapse of monarchy and feudalism.
New capitalist classes arose and the rights of the individual to accumulate, hold and
bequeath became sacrosanct. Systems of government emerged which helped the
interests of modern capital leading to colonization, the nation state and finally to
globalization.
Democracy, Raj warns, has been flexible in playing into the hands of those who want
to make use of it the way they wish. Numerous examples are before us to show how
democracy is subverted to become the most widely accepted form of governance in
most nations states, and is realized through some form of representation.
Raj traces development of democracy in India to the rise of the national movement to
oppose the British rule but remains skeptical about the movements aims and origins.
His thinking is in the line of what Dr. J.M. Lyngdoh comments in the introduction that
Indian National Movement wasone of the dominant communities that substituted
itself for the British while leaving the repressive colonial structure intact. In FPTP
they found an electoral system that could preserve their dominance over the
majority. Raj mentions that India transformed itself into a democracy according to a
model developed in the West and a design handed over by the British. Indiasbackground being monarchic and feudal it did not have a democratic model shaped
by its history to which it could look to for guidance even though we talk of direct
democracy in ancient times comprising the Sabha and Samithi. This alien model of
democracy that modern India adopted suited the dominant class-caste combine but
never served the purpose of inclusiveness that is required in a multicultural,
multiethnic society. Reservations given to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes only
created the illusion of inclusion. It was a mechanism of co-option, which never gave
real power to the oppressed classes. That representative democracy in modern India
will fail to be inclusive of different cultures, ethnic groups and minorities was realized
by two Constituent Assembly members, Kazi Syed Karimuddin and Mahboob Ali
Baig Bahadur who demanded Proportional Representation in the new Republic.
These two could not get any support, not even from the Constitutions Drafting
Committee Chairman.
Rajs assessment of the failure of Indias democracy to guarantee genuine and
inclusive representation to its minorities and oppressed sections leads him to
conclude that part of the responsibility, for this lies in the flaws of the electoral
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system adopted by the Republics founding fathers. As this writer and many others
believe Indians tend to look at Proportional Representation (PR) through the prism of
First Past The Post (FPTP). This leads to confusion and missing the wood for the
trees. Unless we throw our FPTP baggage out and look at PR afresh we cannot
have a proper understanding of PR. The success of Rajs book lies in leading us to
this position.
Raj rests his case for a shift to PR on the contemporary political situation in India
where discontent bordering on deep chaos and anarchy knocks at our door.
Governments both at the Centre and the State are unable to understand the cause
of this problem nor are they able to formulate a solution because they do not
represent the will of all sections of society and the views and grievances of the
unrepresented sections do not get reflected in their decision making process. For inFPTP, you can get elected by winning a minority of votes and the attention of
governments gets limited to solving the problems of that constituency, which elected
them. The age of single party governments is over at the Centre and in many States
and in the emerging new situation of coalitions FPTP is an unscientific way to elect
peoples representatives. Internal democracy is now a thing of the past with most
political parties in India where dynastic succession holds sway. As political parties
become more autocratic, the more distant they are from responding to the needs of
the people.
Several countries have radically reformed their electoral system drawing on
experience while we hesitate. United Kingdom has adopted alternative systems at all
levels except for Parliament and local councils. New Zealand shifted to mixed-
member proportional system in 1993. Japan, Italy, Venezuela. The list is long.
Even next door Nepal! The presidential elections in our small island neighbor
Maldives enters a second round, as in the first round no candidate could secure 50%
of the votes.
The author recommends the Mixed Member Proportional Representation System
with two votes per voter. His model is based on the system prevailing in Germany
varied to Indias requirements. Even the National Law Commission report of 1999
had recommended something similar. The system is not Full PR but a mix of FPTP
and PR with 30% seats in Parliament and Legislatures elected from single member
constituencies and 70% from Party List (List PR). In case India has 500 seats in Lok
Sabha, the country will be divided into 150 constituencies and voters will cast their
votes for candidates of their choice as in FPTP. The one who gets more votes than
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others will be elected. The voters will also be allowed to cast another vote for a Party
List. The remaining 350 seats will be filled through a Party List given to the Election
Commission before a prescribed date. The number of persons who will enter the Lok
Sabha on behalf of a particular party will depend on the percentage of votes the
party secures in voting for the Party List. This means that 70% of parliamentary
seats will be filled by voters casting their choice for a particular party and not for
individual candidates. (This will also mean that all candidates entering the parliament
on behalf of a party will be entering based on the percentage of votes that a party
gains in the Party List votes). In Indias context Raj recommends a State List for
each state rather than a National List which means the seats will be divided by the
votes a party gets in each state rather than the country taken as a whole. The Party
List will be a closed list in that parties do not have the right to change it after
submission to the Election Commission. Raj also includes proposals to implementreservations for socially backward classes, minorities and women in the Party List so
as to make the Lists inclusive of all sections. He also takes precautions to prevent
fragmentation, a common accusation against PR, by proposing a threshold, namely
the minimum percentage of votes a party must get to enter the legislative body.
Threshold exists in all countries with PR. In Indias case the suggestion is for a
threshold of 1% of the votes polled or 3 FPTP seats as the minimum criteria. It is
also proposed to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha so that the 30%
single member constituencies can be distributed according to the size andpopulation of the country.
The prime motivation to write this book rises from the fact that Indias FPTP system
has denied effective representation to its socially backward, specially Dalit, classes
and to its minorities. Other reasons can be found in the growing influence of money
power and muscle power in elections and the lack of democracy in most political
parties. But it can be said that increasing the size of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan
Sabhas could make them unwieldy with members getting little time to discuss
peoples issues and participate in debates. This writer has been told by a Rajya
Sabha member how much easier it is to raise issues in that House as its size is
much smaller compared to the Lok Sabha. He has heard a Lok Sabha member
lament how impossible it is to be heard in a House of 540 members. Setting
Threshold is again an issue, which will raise problems. Would not the Party List
make MPs slaves to parties and deprive them of voicing their views fearlessly?
What remains relevant is the need felt among all sections of society in India that our
electoral system is in need of radical reform to respond to challenges of changing
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times. However, our response has been lukewarm as we still tinker with it as is
evident from the recent developments like the judgment that criminally convicted
persons cannot contest elections and an Ordinance was brought to overcome it.
India is an ancient civilization but we should remember we are an infant democracy
taking its first steps. The infant is yet to stand on its feet. Raj is helping to correct its
steps. Rajs earnest efforts should be appreciated and supported.
(Published in Social Science in Perspective, Vol.5, No 3, July-September 2013.
Quarterly Journal of C. Achutha Menon Study Centre & Library,
Thiruvananthapuram)
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