Is Democratic Politics Going Out of Hand?

Right from the beginning, it is necessary to outline a desirable framework of politics—politics as practical and perennial rather than periodical implies shaping and orienting both voters’ and common people’s ability to judge and take responsibility. Both these factors constitute the essence of democratic political practice. Thus, voters, while exercising their right to vote, need to factor in their considered judgment, which would have a bearing on the democratic use of political power rather than it becoming oppressively inegalitarian. Voters are supposed to take full responsibility of either making a wrong or right choice of the political party and the candidates contesting elections. This would mean that it is not enough for the contesting candidates to belong to a humble background.

Such candidates do have a responsibility to sincerely and earnestly articulate democratic politics, which as an enabling means suggests transforming the humble being into a harbinger of common good that ensures no public suffocation of common citizens. The socio-economic weakness or deprivation of both the candidate and the social constituency that they represent, thus, needs to be transformed into collective empowerment rather than a cultic domination of one single person or a minority of elites. Thus, autonomous judgment and responsibility are the two defining conditions of democratic politics. Put differently, the political judgment that the voters are expected to make in selecting the right kind of parties and candidates should promote democratic motivation among the elected candidates. Such motivation, in turn, would work at energising those candidates who, because of their commitment to egalitarianism, need to graduate from being humble to becoming the harbinger of common good. Thus, political judgment should not be based on regressive values of either obedience or unconstitutional obligations, but on an informed judgment and responsibility.