Here,the Chapter 3 Electoral Politics Notes of Class 9 Civics are given that would help students to develop understanding of the election system,its process and role in democracy.These Class 9 Chapter 3 Electoral Politics Notes are very helpful for exam purpose to score high marks.
Chapter 3 Electoral Politics Notes Class 9 Civics
Why do we need election?
- In a democracy people rule themselves but the rule of the people is not possible as all people cannot sit together at one place .
- Every person doesn’t have time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore people rule through elected representatives.
- To ensure representatives to rule as per the wishes of the people,this requires a mechanism called election.
Election
Election is a mechanism or process by which person can choose their representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to do so.Therefore election are essential for for any representative democracy.In an election, the voters make many choices:
- They can choose who will make laws for them.
- They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions.
- They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and law-making.
What makes an election democratic?
The minimum conditions of a democratic election include the following points.
- First, Everyone should be able to choose their own representative.
- Second, Parties and candidates should be free to contest elections and should offer some real choice to the voters.
- Third, Elections must be held regularly after every few years.
- Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should get elected.
- Fifth,Elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner where people can choose as they really wish.
Is it good to have political competition
Election is a political competition in which several candidates or parties compete at the constituency level to make it democratic.
Demerits of electoral competition
- It creates a sense of disunity and factionalism in every locality.
- Parties and candidates use dirty tricks to win election
- Electoral fight doesn’t allow sensible long term policies to be formulated.
- Good people don’t come to serve the country due to unhealthy competition
Merits of Electoral Competition
- Regular electoral competition provides incentives to political parties and leaders.
- Political parties know that if they raise issues that people want to be raised, their popularity and chances of victory will increase in the next elections.
- It improves the knowledge and character of political leaders.
- If a political party is motivated only by the desire to be in power, despite that, it will be forced to serve the people.
What is our system of Election?
Election are held for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha after every five years
after the term of all elected representatives come to an end.
General Election
When election are held in all constituencies at the same time, either on same day or within few days.This is called general election.
By Election
When election is held for one constituency to fill the vacancy caused by death or resignation of a member.
Electoral Constituencies
In India area based system of representation is used to elect representatives.
For purpose of election the country is divided into different areas,these areas are called electoral constituencies.
For Lok Sabha election: India is divided into 543 constituencies and each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the national parliament.
For Assembly Constituencies: Each state in India is divided into a specific number of Assembly constituencies. Voters in these constituencies elect their representatives known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Each Parliamentary constituency has within it several assembly constituencies .
Local Bodies Elections: Similar principles applies to elections for Panchayats (village councils) and Municipalities (urban local bodies). Villages and towns are divided into smaller units called wards, which act as constituencies. Each ward elects one member to represent them in the local body.
Reserved Constituencies
Our constitution entitles every citizen to elect his/her representatives and to be elected as representative .
- The makers of constitution made a system of reserved Constituencies for weaker sections like SCs(Scheduled Castes),STs( Scheduled Tribes) and OBCs(other backward castes).
- This was done to give equal chance to weaker sections in decision making and avoided open competition with general category who are influential and resourceful.
- In total 543 seats of Lok Sabha,84 seats are reserved for scheduled castes and 47 seats for scheduled Tribes.
- This number is in proportion to their share in total population
- This system of reservation is applicable to Lok Sabha,Legislative Assemblies and gram panchayats and municipalities and municipal corporation (in urban areas).
- One third seats are reserved for women in rural and urban local bodies.
Voter’s List
A list of those who are eligible to vote in a democratic election are prepared, this list is called the Electoral Roll and is commonly known as the Voter’s list.
- It is prepared much before election and keep updated by adding new voters and deleting those voters who are died and migrated after every five years
- Citizens who are above 18 years of age are eligible to vote irrespective of their religion, caste or gender, everyone is allowed to give their vote.on the principle of universal adult franchise
- Some criminal and person with unsound mind can be denied the right to vote in rare situations.
- A new system of election photo identity card(EPIC) has been introduced but this card is not compulsory for voting, voters can use other proof of identity.
Nomination of Candidates
For an election to be democratic, there are almost no restrictions on anyone to contest an election. Any citizen who wants to be a candidate needs to have a minimum age of 25 years.
- If anyone has a criminal background, then there are restrictions but it is applicable in very extreme cases.
- The candidate who is nominated by party and get the party’s symbol and party’ nomination is considered party ‘ticket’.
- Contesting candidate also deposit some money as security deposit .
According to the direction of Supreme Court, every candidate now has to make a legal declaration, details:
- Any serious case pending against the candidate.
- details of assets and liabilities of the candidates and his/her family
- Educational qualifications of the candidate
These information help voters to make decisions while casting the vote to choose right candidate.
Election Campaign
The purpose of election campaign is to give people a chance to choose representatives the government and the policies they prefer.
- Campaign is done for a two weeks
- Candidates and political parties can contact their voters to mobilise their support through meetings.
- Political parties try to focus on some big issues to get public attention.
Successful Slogans given by different parties
- Garibi Hatao by Congress in 1971 Lok Sabha Election
- Save Democracy by Janata Party under Jayaprakash Narayan in 1977 to undo and restore civil liberties during emergency.
- Land to the Tiller in West Bengal by Left Front in 1977 assembly elections.
- Protect the Self Respect of the Telugus used by T.Rama Rao of TDP in 1983 assembly election in Andhra Pradesh
According to election law,no party or candidate can
- Bribe or threaten voters
- Appeal voters in the name of caste or religion
- Use government resources for election campaign
- Spend more than 25 lakhs ina constituency in lok sabha election or 10 lakhs in a constituency in Assembly election
Model code of Conduct
According to it,no party or candidate during election campaign can
- Use any place of worship
- Use govt vehicles, resources and officials
- Ministers shall not lay foundation stone of any projects,take any big policy decisions etc.
Polling and counting of Votes
The final stage of election is
- election day ,when voters cast their votes.Every person in voter’s list can vote nearby polling booths which are generally govt building or schools.
- Earlier voters used to cast votes by ballot paper.
Ballot Paper – A sheet of paper on which names of contesting candidate along with party name and symbols are listed.
- Now voting is done by EVM(Electronic Voting Machine)
EVM – A machine shows name names of contesting candidates and party symbols allotted by election commission. Voters press the button against the name of candidate to whom he wants to give vote.
- Once polling is completed, all EVMs are sealed and taken to the safe place. All EVMs are opened on counting day and agent of each candidate are present to ensure fair counting.
- In general election, counting of votes are usually done in all the constituencies at the same time on the same day.
- Within few hours of counting, all constituencies results are declared and it clears who will form the government.
What makes Elections in India Democratic
Independent Election Commission
- In India, elections are conducted by the Election Commission (EC),
- It is independent as judiciary and it has its own Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) appointed by the President.
- CEC is not answerable to president or the government for its decisions.
Powers of Election Commission
- EC can take decisions on every aspects of conduct and control of elections from the announcement of elections to declaration of result.
- It implements code of conduct and punish any party or candidate who violates it.
- EC can orders the government to follow guidelines to prevent any misuse of government power.
- On election duty, govt officials work under the control of EC only.
When election officials come to know that polling was not fair at some booths or even an entire constituency,it can order a repoll of that constituency.
Popular Participation
People’s participation with enthusiasm is a method to check the quality of election process
- People’s participation is usually measured by voter turnout. Turnout means the percent of eligible voters who actually cast their vote .
- In India the poor, illiterate and underprivileged people vote in large proportion whereas in western countries the rich and privileged sections vote in large proportion.
- Common people in India feel that they can pressure on political parties and their vote matters in the way things run in the country.
- Interest of voters in election related activities has been increasing over the years.More than half of the people identified themselves as being close to one or the other party.
Acceptance of Outcome
Outcome itself is the final test of free and fairness election.If election is not democratic then ruling party do not lose elections.
Outcome of India’s election
- The ruling parties routinely lose elections in India both at national and state level.
- In India half of the the sitting MPs or MLAs lose elections.
- Candidate who spend a lot of money on buying votes and with criminal connections often lose elections.
- Electoral outcomes are usually accepted as people’s verdict by the defeated party.
Challenges to Free and Fair Elections
A few candidates may win purely on the basis of money power and unfair means but overall verdict of general election still reflects the popular preference.
- Candidate and parties enjoy a big and unfair advantage over smaller parties and independent.
- Candidates with criminal connection have been able to push others out of the electoral race and to secure a ticket from major parties.
- Some families tend to dominate political parties; tickets are distributed to relatives from these families.
- Election offer little choice to ordinary citizens.
- Smaller parties and independent candidates suffer a huge disadvantage compared to bigger parties.