While the votes for the US elections are still being counted, the body of Democracy 1.0 can be laid to rest. As D M Ramesh notes in his book "Quest for Democracy 2.0", the essence of democracy was representation of the people. No constitution has the phrase "political party" enshrined in it. The word "people" is mentioned many times in many constitutions. Abraham Lincoln wanted a democracy where the government is "Of the people, For the people, By the people".
The birth and rise of the political party to represent a body of thought - a collective group of people with similar ideas - has morphed into a government which is "of the party, for the party, and by the party".
People no longer influence the party they join. The party indoctrinates them with their equivalent of a Mao's Red Book. Any deviation can result in an expulsion. And an expulsion means no money to fight elections. A candidate for any election in many parts of the world without the backing of the political party - and its money might - has no chance of winning.
The tragedy of Democracy 1.0 - whether in India, the UK, the US - is that it has been hijacked by "political parties" who, like a rogue company, pretend they are providing customers a beneficial service or product when, in fact, their product kills the very democracy it was to serve.
While flag-waving voters were turning out in record numbers in the 2020 US elections, the essence of democracy as a people's representative was buried under an obscene avalanche of money power.
| US ELECTION | 2020 | 2016 | 2012 | 2008 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEMOCRAT | 75,245,603 | 62,523,126 | 65,915,795 | 69,498,516 | 59,028,444 |
| REPUBLICAN | 70,821,392 | 61,201,031 | 60,933,504 | 59,948,323 | 62,040,610 |
| OTHERS | 2,474,195 | 6,464,094 | 2,236,111 | 1,866,981 | 1,226,291 |
| TOTAL | 148,543,210 | 130,190,267 | 129,087,422 | 131,315,828 | 122,297,349 |
| VOTING ELIGIBLE POP | 239,247,182 | 230,931,921 | 235,248,000 | 229,945,000 | 216,000,000 |
| TURNOUT | 62.10% | 56.40% | 54.90% | 57.10% | 56.60% |
| % Democrat | 50.70% | 48.00% | 51.10% | 52.90% | 48.30% |
| % Republican | 47.70% | 47.00% | 47.20% | 45.70% | 50.70% |
| TOTAL Democrat+ Republican | 98.30% | 95.00% | 98.30% | 98.60% | 99.00% |
| INDEPENDENT VOTES | 1.70% | 5.00% | 1.70% | 1.40% | 1.00% |
| MONEY SPENT, $ Billion | $14.00 | $6.50 | $6.10 | $5.10 | $2.10 |
| MONEY SPENT PER VOTE | $94.25 | $49.93 | $47.25 | $38.84 | $17.17 |
| MONEY SPENT PER VOTER | $58.52 | $28.15 | $25.93 | $22.18 | $9.72 |
While the TV commentators are applauding the record voter turnout - as they should - and the fact that President Elect Biden and President Trump will each have received the highest number of votes for a candidate in any election in the history of the United States, the pundits forget to mention a few dark facts:
The legalized influencing of elections via Political Action Committees in the US and the electoral bonds in India will embolden parties to become powerful engines for business groups.
The business of politics.
Politics is money and money is a business. Those in the business of making money are increasingly shaping politics and founders of tech companies - who control much of what we touch, see, and listen to - have no qualms about acting as self-anointed filters and sieves for society. As a result, the line between politics and business is blurred.
Take this simple test: jot down the name of a political party and now write the name of the industrial family (or company) you believe will do well if that party is in power. Do the reverse. Jot down the name an industrial family (or company) and now write the name of the political party which they are likely to fund to do well in business.
The constitutions of many democracies did not envisage this parasitic relationship between political parties, their candidates and the businesses they represent - or are represented by. The danger to the democratic election processes and democracy in countries like India, UK and USA is not that the competing ideologies of state actors from China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan or Russia. As Democracy2.0 suggests, the threat is from the vice-like grip the political parties have on us as we reach for the ballot box and vote not for democracy but for a selection of crass candidates who - irrespective of race, ethnicity, caste, religion or nationality - eliminate any hope of waking up in Tagore's "heaven of freedom".
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