Mockery of democracy is glaring

The early years of the twenty-first century have witnessed a marked paradox. On the one hand democracy, both as an ideal and as a set of political institutions and practices, has triumphed in most countries of the world. "Democracy is a universal value" as the UN has declared, which 'does not belong to any country or region'. On the other hand, these years have also seen a considerable disillusionment developing with the results of democracy in practice.

However, what "was promised" and "what has actually come about" reflects the acute contrast of the present age. This paradox becomes evident always in the Parliaments and our Parliament has been no exception. We have seen, perhaps, the worst of the parliamentary behaviour during this monsoon session with the intent of the Opposition as well that of the ruling party coming under public glare.

As the central institution of democracy, Parliament embodies the will of the people in government, and carries all their expectations that democracy will be truly responsive to their needs and help solve the most pressing problems that confront them in their daily lives. As the elected body that represents society in all its diversity, parliaments have a unique responsibility for reconciling the conflicting interests and expectations of different groups and communities through the democratic means of dialogue and compromise.

As the body entrusted with the oversight of government, they are responsible for ensuring that governments are fully accountable to the people. Even the Opposition is fully accountable to the people, not just the Treasury benches. Those who desecrated the sanctity of the House in the Rajya Sabha the other day by their indecent conduct should understand that it was no heroic act. The past few years have witnessed numerous efforts across many parliaments to engage more effectively with the public and to improve the way they work: to become more genuinely representative of their electorates, more accessible and accountable to them, more open and transparent in their procedures, and more effective in their key tasks of legislation and oversight of government.

Before we can identify the parliamentary contribution to democracy, we need first to be clear what we understand 'democracy' to mean. In brief, democracy is both an ideal and a set of institutions and practices. As an ideal, it expresses two very simple principles: first, that the members of any group or association should have the determining influence and control over its rules and policies, second, that in doing so they should treat each other, and be treated, as equals. These principles are applicable from the smallest group up to the largest state; how effectively they are realised in practice is the touchstone of how democratic any association can claim to be.

At the level of the modern state these democratic principles are only realised through a complex set of institutions and practices, which have evolved over time and continue to do so. Alas, today we can boast of none of these. Why do they waste public money on this mockery of democracy? Should they be allowed to continue hoodwinking us on the pretext of a "fight for democracy"? They are all guilty of resorting to lumpenisation of politics.