A relatively prosperous nation, with an equitable distribution of societal resources, provides the best milieu for democracy, write Subrata K. Mitra and V. B. Singh in ‘ When Rebels Become Stakeholders: Democracy, agency and social change in India ’ ( >www.sagepublications.com ).
Citing studies on the subject that show how the more well-to-do nations have a greater chance of sustaining democratic governments than those with widespread poverty, the authors observe that any reservation expressed against the sustainability of Indian democracy is largely guided by such considerations.
They add, however, that those who put forth this viewpoint perhaps have little knowledge of Indian culture, which derives its strength from theory of rebirth, wherein, for most of their sufferings people blame themselves ( karma of previous birth) and not the system. “Moreover, they have a tendency to judge their present in comparison to their own recent pasts. Rather than material conditions it is generally subjective feelings of a person with regard to his own economic condition, which shapes his view and/or attitude towards the system.”
Voters’ perception of economic conditions
Of value, in this context, are the insights drawn from the National Election Studies conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, through questions aimed at measuring voters’ perception of their own economic conditions.
For instance, voters were asked whether their financial situation has improved during the last few years. Compared to 1971, more people report an improvement in their financial situation, going up from 20.2 per cent to 29.2 per cent in 1996, though declining to 26.5 per cent in 2004, the authors note. “Similarly, the percentage of those who feel that their financial situation has worsened also has gone down from 39.7 per cent to 17 per cent in 1996 and 19 per cent in 2004.”
On ‘satisfaction with present financial situation,’ the results are striking, with a sharp decline in the proportion of ‘not satisfied’ people from 60.7 per cent in 1971 to 30.4 per cent in 1996 and 33.4 per cent in 2004. “Two-thirds of Indian population in 1996 and 2004 reported feeling satisfied somewhat satisfied with their present financial situation, which may appear unrealistic at the first glance but the element of subjectivity that this observation embodies conveys an important message about politics in India,” decode Mitra and Singh.
The authors reason from this ‘subjective assessment’ that in whatever situations people are today, to most of them their present looks better than the past; and hence the satisfaction, which prevents people from expressing their dissatisfaction with the system. “Thus it acts as shock absorber not for the toiling masses alone, but also provides sustenance to Indian democracy by containing resentment against the system.”
Will the future get better?
The surveys had also asked respondents how they viewed their financial prospects: ‘will the future get better, remain the same, get worse, or don’t know.’ What do the findings show? That the percentage of those who think their financial situation would get better has gone up from 38.6 per cent in 1971 to 47.9 per cent in 1996 and 49.2 per cent in 2004. And, as for those who apprehend worsening of their future financial situation, the numbers are down from 18.8 per cent in 1971 to merely 8.9 per cent in 1996 and 6.2 per cent in 2004.
In India, where about one-third of its population still falls below the poverty line, from the point of view of the state, there cannot be a better situation than this as far as containing the grievances against the system for one’s own economic hardship is concerned, the authors opine. Instructively, though, the 1996 survey showed that women to be more apprehensive about the future. “Compared to men, 50.5 per cent of whom expect better promises for future, only 45.3 per cent of women have similar expectations.”
The authors go on to use the survey findings to construct an ‘index of financial satisfaction’ with a low-medium-high scale, and discover a balancing picture emerging where half of the population falls in the middle.
Suggested read.
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