India has been called the ‘world’s first successful poor democracy’ [1]. The majority of low income countries failed to sustain experiments with democracy. The Subcontinent is an exception to the usual rule. In some countries, military dictatorships took root, while elsewhere one-party states or ethnic autocracies developed [2]. What is the impact of poverty on democracy in India?
While there has been attention to its growing importance in world trade, India can still be described as a low income country because of its per capita income, which does not compare with that of advanced democracies. Furthermore, there is a patchy distribution of public goods such as healthcare, education and infrastructure [3]. Whatever the force of these challenges, India has had a working mass democracy for over 75 years. Somehow, Indian democracy beats poverty. In fact, the impact of poverty on democracy in India is a constructive pressure.
Poverty’s Challenge to Democracy
What is poverty’s challenge to democracy, which India has overcome?
Based on empirical evidence, the UN writes that poverty and inequalities are major threats to democracy. [3] As many enduring poverty are also victims of injustice without legal redress, many of them distrust institutions of democracy. Confidence in institutions is also shaken by large and increasing disparities in equality. [4]
Interviews in the United Kingdom have indicated that people who have contended with poverty feel disconnection and alienation from political and governmental systems. They distrust the government and think that it cannot understand their lives, that it cannot hear their voices. [5]
Indian Democracy Beats Poverty
Democracy has thrived in India despite inequalities. In fact, the poor and disadvantaged castes cast more votes proportionally than the rich and the upper castes and even more so than those in developed democracies. [6] There is no lack of trust in democratic institutions. Indeed the poor have higher expectations of the state than those that are wealthier [7]. This faith of India’s poor and marginalised stems from the law’s requirement for the state to provide fair opportunities to all, whatever their caste, creed, religion, and economic status, and to actively work to eliminate these barriers [8]. As a result, the alleviation of poverty is a political necessity for politicians if they want to be elected and to stay in power. [9]
Democracy’s Challenge to Poverty
Research suggests that a country that switches to democracy achieves about 20% higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita over time (approximately in the next 30 years). [10] India’s belief in equality is what fuels its belief in democracy and the state and is what will eventually lead them to prosperity. The poor determine the structure of power in India and not the wealthy elites. This contribution of the poor and the marginalised is enshrined in the Indian principles of democracy which seek to create a society free of inequalities and with real fairness for all groups in society. What is the impact of poverty on democracy in India? In India, poverty cements democracy as hope for the people.
Suneel Mehmi
[1] https://theprint.in/opinion/india-is-the-worlds-first-successful-poor-democracy/2837427/
[2] https://theprint.in/opinion/india-is-the-worlds-first-successful-poor-democracy/2837427/
[3] chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/01/Poverty-a-threat-to-Democracy.pdf
[4] chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2018/01/Poverty-a-threat-to-Democracy.pdf
[5] https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/people-in-poverty-democracy-carnegie-uk/
- https://ecfr.eu/special/what_does_india_think/analysis/indias_politics_and_the_poor#:~:text=However%2C%20in%20the%20last%20decade,increasingly%20free%2Dmarket%20economic%20policies.&text=The%20fact%20that%20the%20two,to%20the%20demands%20for%20redistribution.
- https://ecfr.eu/special/what_does_india_think/analysis/indias_politics_and_the_poor#:~:text=However%2C%20in%20the%20last%20decade,increasingly%20free%2Dmarket%20economic%20policies.&text=The%20fact%20that%20the%20two,to%20the%20demands%20for%20redistribution.
[10] https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/macroeconomics/does-democracy-cause-growth
diary of a lone man 