Systems of Governance

There was a recent development on the anniversary of 'The Emergency' proclaimed as the dark spots in our democracy when a patriarch of the ruling party released a salvo saying the system hasn't been modified enough to leave no room for such scenarios in the future. It made an easier job for the disjointed opposition to pounce over a government that is losing trust each passing day with its huge promises that have no real impact on the ground. Well, I will leave you to judge the performance of the administration. This is not a piece to adjudge the current government but rather my reflection on the system of governance. I am no political expert but I can definitely say I am not one without an opinion. So here it goes..

I do appreciate democratic rule but as the evolution and centuries if not millennia of history have thought us, every system is to crumble and resurrect into a new one as time progresses. The best one can hope is that the next version is better than its predecessor and not worse. Romans had democracy centuries earlier before the american war of independence and french revolution that reaffirmed the belief of this millennium in the parliamentary system established after the English Civil War. It is quite ironical to observe that the pioneers of parliamentary system, the English still have a monarch with significant powers. This could be attributed to the fact that the change in Britain was driven by the then rulers, starting with William The Conqueror(real life Jon Snow :P) who laid the foundations for the 'Great Council' which would later become the Parliament in the 13th century. Also the slow and consistent reforms executed by the English crowns demand respect for their diplomacy and adaptation of change, albeit slow.

This slow process is a proof to the fact that every system has to undergo a series of tests before it is professed and adapted across countries. The improvements in transit industry enabled the movement of goods, interlinked markets and offered routes for missionaries of religion and culture but the revolution of communication that linked citizens of the world led to the spread of ideas of politics and democracy. One of the main reasons for the success of democracy is the accomplishments of the countries under democracy and their power in world order. Being the superpowers, these nations try to influence the developing and 3rd world powers with their monetary aids, ideologies and cultures. A government can easily empathise with another similar system easily unless the other party offers something that none other can, like the Chinese in the 1980s-a huge market and cheap labour with a government that can get shit done unlike their Indian counterpart which was mired in political cobwebs.

One might say that we have had successful democratic systems for centuries without changing the system but the fact remains that it took centuries before Universal Suffrage could be adopted in the United States(1965) after India(1950) did. Still there are nations with no voting rights for sections of the populace based on sex, race and ethnicity. So it would be foolish to say that there is no change. With the growth of civilisations across the world, each region had a leader and there existed a system in which the leader passed on his/her baton to their offsprings.  This kind of system later evolved into a structured monarchist model of governance. When the chinks in this system's armour started showing, it crumbled. While some rose up again as democracies, some chose communism and others dictatorship. There are always two sides to any model but it is our obligation to keep questioning and evolving.

I do admit seldom has these changes affected the common public, so it might not be everyone's obligation. These changes are mostly adopted for the benefit of the rulers, one way or the other. When the Tudor dynasty empowered the parliament of England, it was to raise taxes with the consent of the parliament to avoid discontent amongst the subjects. But seldom the changes could go wrong like it did with the Germans post the World War I. Here is where the influence of the people plays a huge role in correcting the course of the change. Lucky for us, we have elections in India so we can correct it once in 5 years. Wouldn't you fancy the right to correct it whenever you feel it is wrong instead of waiting for half a decade? If that's the case, do read up on 'Recall Referendums' in the Swiss. It is not full-fledged, but hey, its a start.!

As Winston Churchill once stated, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time", we will have to keep testing and reforming us for fear of being obsolete.