Democracy explained in terms of the people

This is a common phenomenon in India. The question is: Can a billionaire or multimillionaire truly represent a constituency that is desperately poor? And why even after more than six decades of democracy, India is home to the largest number of hungry people in the world?

The ballot is only a means toward a better life for voters. And if a better life still eludes them, it means the system is not working the way it should. Food, shelter, education and healthcare form the core of citizens’ rights, and a country that cannot guarantee them is obviously suffering from a “democracy deficit”.

Democracy has to be defined not only in terms of the right to vote in, say, five years but also in terms of people’s everyday life and livelihood. Freedom is not merely the freedom to vote (which the majority of people do not exercise despite having the right to do so in quite a few countries) but also the freedom from hunger, illness, unemployment and illiteracy. In some countries, less than 50 percent of the eligible voters actually vote, and in constituencies with several strong candidates, a candidate can win an election by getting even less than 25 percent of the total votes. What about the choice of 75 percent of the voters?

Freedom of choice is important to human progress, but that should include freedoms other than just the right to vote. Democracy means people enjoying all citizens’ rights on all days before and after the election, not just on the day of the election.

Therefore, countries not practicing Western-style democracy but doing everything in their power to improve the lives of their people should not be criticized.

The author is vice-chair of Manipal Advanced Research Group and UNESCO peace chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University, India.