Driving to a relic of all the past events in different era, we have seen a vast change of rule and many of rulers uprooted. But a concern has always driven past our minds – What exactly Governance signifies to a common man be it in India, America or any other country across the sphere? Some would say governance is the power to rule, to impose your actions. This term can have different meanings but to be specific we need to know that Governance has mainly five types distinguished to be Aristocracy, Monarchy, Dictatorship, Communalism and
Democracy. To analyse them a bit, Aristocracy is the “Rule by the Best”, more often Plato rule.
Monarchy is the “King’s rule” wherein, the King is the sole leader and the others are his subjects. Generally, in Monarchy there are no elections and the total control is under the Royal
(King’s) family. The heir of the king is declared as the new king posthumously. When the Army Generals look to take over the civilised world, it gives rise to dictatorship, wherein the army as the utmost power to rule the area. Communalism is ruling on religion basis, i.e., keeping religion as the sole basis to grab people’s attention. Now, as we tend towards Democracy, we need to remember that,
“Democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people” - Abraham Lincoln.
Looking close to the broader aspects of democracy, we understand that, further democracy is of two kinds, President as a leader and Parliament as the commanding state. Parliamentary democracy serves potential candidates (representatives) who are elected directly by the people of that democracy. Parliamentary democracy is very important when it comes to analyse the beneficial powers which rest in the hands of the people who elect their representatives. For instance, USA has president form of democracy whereas India follows parliamentary democracy. This allows India to stay in an advantage as major decisions are in the hands of the people and they have a choice and some rights under the constitution to enact. Interestingly parliamentary democracy has all the decision-making bodies in instalments. A parliamentary system may be either bicameral, with two chambers of parliament (or houses) or unicameral, with just one parliamentary chamber. A bicameral parliament usually consists of a directly elected lower house with the power to determine the executive government, and an upper
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house which may be appointed or elected through a different mechanism from the lower house. The Indian parliamentary democracy is composed of the President and the two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President in his role as head of legislature has full powers to summon and postpone either house of Parliament or to dissolve Lok Sabha. The president can exercise these powers only upon the advice of the Prime Minister and his Union council of Ministers. To mention the most important and widely recognized features of the parliamentary democracy taking ‘India’ into consideration we get, Nominal and Real head, Executive under Legislature, Majority party rules, Coalition of parties to form Government, Collective responsibility, Prime Minister as the powerhouse, Sovereign civil services, Opposition party and Transparency to the citizens.
“I shall work for an India, in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect
harmony.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Due to the presence of the houses in Indian parliament it becomes difficult and tedious task to take decision as the time required to finalize is more compared to other democracies. But the advantageous situation over here is that even if time is spent the decisions taken are useful and beneficial in the long term. Even the Indian constitution has given some rights to the citizens which they can exercise as and when required. All in all, parliamentary democracy is a system of government in which citizens elect representatives to a legislative parliament to make the necessary laws and decisions for the country. Now, as we are saying that parliamentary democracy provides us with an ease to elect our leaders or representatives who will care for us and make durable foundation to build a good law-making mechanism. We also come across a very intellectual state that citizens in parliamentary democracy can cast their vote and elect their representatives which is smoothly controlled by an independent Election Commission (E.C.). Voters are those who are eligible to vote (generally age 18 and above) having a voter – id card issued by the Election Commission (E.C.). The Constitution of India guarantees some very beneficial rights to the citizens of India among which is the “Right to
Vote”. This right to vote serves as an excellent means to the citizens to elect the potential candidates as their representatives in the parliament. It is very important for the citizens to know their rights especially the right to vote and also need to exercise these rights as and when required.
“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”
John Lewis.
These above expressions tell us that it is very important to be aware as well as enact the right to vote. We can conclude that the voters are the ‘Soul of Parliamentary Democracy’. The way people perceive this right and exercise it when needed really matters when it comes to build a strong nation with visualist thoughts. Over the years the number of people voting has increased and yet we see a scope that it would increase more in the upcoming future. Observing the Indian Constitution, we find that there are about 25 parts containing a sum of 395 articles. Thanking to our constitution makers we have a strong wall of decision processing (inside the PART – 5 of Indian constitution). Looking at varied angles to the Part- 5 of the constitution we recognize some familiar terms, namely, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It becomes essential and important to understand the stand and role of these bodies.
"A student of constitutional law, if a copy of a constitution is placed in his hands, is sure to ask two questions. Firstly, what is the form of Government that is envisaged in the Constitution; and secondly what is the form of the Constitution. For these are the two crucial matters which every Constitution has to deal with."
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Dr. Ambedkar made an exhaustive and authoritative statement on the general character of the Executive while introducing the Draft Constitution in the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948. Conventionally, the terms 'Legislature' and 'Executive' respectively, connote a body which legislates or makes laws and a body which executes them. But lawmaking is not the only function of Parliament. Similarly, the term 'Executive' is often used rather loosely to connote several different things. Under the Constitution of India, the head of the Executive is the President. All executive power is bestowed on him and all executive actions are taken in his name. Often the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary are called as the arms of the government. The Part – 5 of the Indian constitution is often referred as ‘The Union’. It contains about 99 articles (Article 52 – 151). The Part – 5 of the constitution more often speaks about the duties of the Prime Minister, ministries and the role of speech of the representatives. It is more likely inclined towards the executive, legislature and the judiciary. The role of the Legislature is to make the laws for the citizens, government and all the other relational matters. After the laws are made to execute them in an appropriate and systematic way the Executive stands upfront. If anything, faulty or inappropriate actions are noticed those are dealt by the Judiciary. The Supreme Court, High courts and other local courts are accountable to the judicial system. Thus, it is rightly said that,
“Law and order are the medicines of body politic and if body politic gets sick then, medicines must be administered”
-Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Now, questioning ourselves can Parliamentary democracy be applied to the present Indian social system? Well at times when we look at the current incredible India we can find some faults as well. The very idea of the Constitution makers is implemented but not as they thought it to be. In many Constituent assembly sessions, there were mass agitations on what was the best way to organize the citizens, to let them lead the democracy via elections. Say the right to vote is guaranteed to each and every citizen by the constitution but how many of them actually vote? The very idea of parliamentary democracy is “People”, if they are not willingly participating in activities then that concerns the very idea of Indian Parliamentary democracy. Awareness of the rights given by the constitution should be created by the government to let people know their duties. Schools are required to emphasize more on the political aspect of India and its current social state. Social media handles of celebrities and influencers should get ready to let their followers know more about voting and urge them to vote, ‘One vote can bring a change’. If we study the constitution thoroughly, we understand that the main power rests in the hands of the citizens of India and is in the form of their constitutional rights. That is the reason why every citizen should become responsible and take out some time for at least reading the summary of the Indian constitution.
Over the years we can bring in a change in our country by enacting and giving ourselves this constitution and make ourselves sovereign in person. Precisely speaking it’s very important that people step ahead and play their role in the parliamentary democracy and enact their rights, support the country and lead a happy healthy democratic life. Voting, elections and representing should not just be limited to the privileged but the real need of them is to the poor and those who are left behind in this cut throat competition to stay in power. Indian social structure is diverse but when it comes to our “Motherland”, we all are united. Nevertheless, we can and we will achieve the bench mark of being a diverse yet a successful democracy as visualised by the Indian Constitution makers. The current picture of India is of the world’s largest parliamentary democracy struggling yet rising with the drift of time.
“Dialogue is the essence of parliamentary politics.”6
-Sharad Govindrao Pawar.
