Electoral Systems
With
Specific Reference to PR System in India
M C Raj
A Brief
Author M C Raj
has penned many books on philosophy, psychology, spirituality, politics and a
few fiction novels. Now he has come out with a book on Electoral Systems with
specific reference to Proportional Representation System in India. This book is
the result of two parallel processes in the last five years. The first process
is that he started off with a research on the German electoral system in
Germany. This was a long research. He followed it up with a research on the
Sami Parliament and Norwegian electoral system. Norway has enacted a very
special legal provision for safeguarding the rights and culture of the Sami
people. The Sami Act also provides room for a separate Parliament for the Sami
people. Jyothi and Raj then took up a research in New Zealand on the electoral
system of the country. New Zealand has a provision for separate electorate for
the indigenous Maori people. His frequent visits to Nepal also enabled him to
do a research on the Nepalese electoral system that has brought about drastic
changes in the democratic set up of Nepal. Finally Raj also made a research on
the electoral system of the Netherlands, which according to some scholars has
the best proportional system in the world.
A common feature
of all these countries is that all of them have proportional representation
system as their electoral system. A diversity in all these countries is that
each country has its own unique feature in PR system. Germany has reservation
for the Danish people, in its Mixed Member PR system while New Zealand,
following on the German model of PR has made a special provision of separate
electorate for the indigenous Maori people within the MMP. Nepal is a pioneer
in Asia in adopting the parallel system of elections within the Proportional
Representation system. The Netherlands has a full PR system without the Mixed
Member PR system as in other four countries.
The second
process is that M C Raj and his wife Jyothi initiated a major Campaign for
Electoral Reforms in India (CERI), which has now taken roots in more than 15
states in India and has also made inroads into the parliament of India. India
has borrowed its electoral system from the British, which is a colonial
residue. The First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system is fit for any
democracy with two parties. India, being a multicultural society with
multiparty system is badly in need of shifting to proportional representation
system, as it provides inclusive space for minorities. Here the term minorities
will imply Dalits, Tribals, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities and also
women. The CERI campaign is specifically focused on bringing about this change
in India. However, the knowledge bank in India on PR system is abysmally low.
It is in this context that M C Raj has brought together all the questions that
were raised by Indian participants in more than 15 State conferences on PR
system, combined it with his untiring researches and has brought the present
book on Electoral Systems.
The book has
three sections and is spread out in ten chapters. Section 1 deals with the conceptual dimension of Democracy,
especially in the way it developed from the period of Enlightenment in the 16th
Century and has led to the present modern and postmodern democratic governance.
It has a heavy analytical angle in its presentation. The attempt is to wake up
the readers from their slumber on a naïve assumption that democracy is ‘good’
without even knowing its inner personality and character. This section also
deals with the way Indian democracy evolved especially through the different
types of nationalist discourses. Both the global and the Indian democracy
converge on one common dimension, which is representative democracy. The
question of representation immediately throws up the challenge of inclusion and
share in power. Both these are supposed to be realized through an appropriate
electoral system. When there is no inclusion and no share in power it must be
realized that there is an unfit electoral system.
Section 2 deals with the
Majoritarian Electoral system. It lays bare the different variants in the
Majoritarian Electoral System one of which is the First Past The Post system
that is in vogue in India. The
systems are dealt with as much academic discipline as possible. Care is also
taken to explain the different terminologies of the system that are used in
procedures.
Section 3 deals with the
Proportional Representation System and its application to India. The variants
of PR system are explained to enhance the general understanding of readers and
particularly place the reality of India. The choice of the Mixed Member
Proportional (MMP) system and its various dimensions are not only explained but
also the logic of developing India specific electoral system is brought into
focus. Being a unique country India cannot afford to borrow any country’s
electoral system as it is, without applying the same to India’s unique social
and cultural context. This has been done by a group of international experts on
electoral systems whom M C Raj brought together in Berlin, Germany. The
proposal for PR system in India by M C Raj and CERI are heavily supported by
the National Law Commission Report of 1999, which has also recommended strongly
PR system for India.
Both the
technical and the explanatory dimensions of the book make it appealing to all
types of readership in India. However, this book will be unique in the sense no
such book on electoral systems has been written in India till now. The academic
understanding of PR system in India seems to be abysmally low and this book is
bound to fill in a lot of empty areas and avoid many pitfalls in Indian
democracy and governance. This book is also bound to create a lot of
unprecedented dialogue and healthy argumentation that will go to strengthen the
theory and praxis of democracy in India and will lead to unplanned levels of
national integration.
Publishing Status
Manuscript: fully ready for submission,
Introduction by an eminent person awaited.
Illustrations: Nil
No. of Words: 44662
No. pages: 115 in MS Word, Arial 12
