TRENDS IN ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION AND UNDERSTANDING DEMOCRATIC UPSURGES: EXPLORING THE CONTEXT AND REASONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/eijhss.v1i1.197Keywords:
Elections, electoral process, constitutional, state Legislative Assemblies , LokSabhaAbstract
Elections are an integral part of representative democracy. Citizens elect their ‘representatives’ to whom authority for governance is passed on. Free and fair election is very vital for the legitimacy of governance. Equally important is people’s turnout for voting and participation in the electoral process. Higher voting percentage indicates people’s faith and trust or acceptability of the political system. According to Sanjay Kumar, ‘Elections are a key activity around which a representative democracy evolves. The success and legitimacy of elections hinge on the citizens involvement in voting, and also in the overall election process’ (Kumar, 2009). India has so far seen sixteen general elections, the last one in 2014, and many more for state assemblies. People tend to regard elections as ‘festival of democracy’, and participate in it with enthusiasm. This paper inquiries into the electoral participation of the citizens over the decades based on critical reading of literature on elections, and election analysis in India. It examines the turnout trends, and posits that voting turn out has increased significantly over the years, and two democratic surges can be discerned- first, in the 1960s and the second one in the 1990s. The Second democratic upsurge flatted by 2004 and the trend continued till 2009. After 2009, in 2014 there was a considerable jump in the turnout. The paper tries to find an answer for the significant jump in turnout in 2014 general elections.
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