Electoral Politics - Notes - Class 9 PDF Download

 Page 1


ELECTORAL POLITICS  
OVERVIEW 
? In a democracy it is neither possible nor 
necessary for people to govern directly. The 
most common democracy in our times is for the 
people to govern through their representatives. 
In this project  I ,SHEENA GUPTA OF CLASS-IX B, 
ROLL NO:45 would tell why elections are 
necessary and useful in a democracy. What 
makes an election democratic. The rest of the 
project tries to access elections in India in the 
light of this yardstick. At the end of the project , 
we turn to an assessment of whether elections in 
India are free and fair. 
Page 2


ELECTORAL POLITICS  
OVERVIEW 
? In a democracy it is neither possible nor 
necessary for people to govern directly. The 
most common democracy in our times is for the 
people to govern through their representatives. 
In this project  I ,SHEENA GUPTA OF CLASS-IX B, 
ROLL NO:45 would tell why elections are 
necessary and useful in a democracy. What 
makes an election democratic. The rest of the 
project tries to access elections in India in the 
light of this yardstick. At the end of the project , 
we turn to an assessment of whether elections in 
India are free and fair. 
WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS? 
      Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than one 
hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose 
people’s representatives. Elections are held in many countries that are not 
democratic. 
 
      But why do we need elections? Let us try to imagine a democracy without 
elections. A rule of people is possible without any elections if all the 
people can sit together everyday and take all the decisions. But, this is not 
possible in any large community. Nor it is possible for everyone to have 
the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore in most 
democracies people rule through their representatives. 
 
      In an election the voters make many choices: 
? They can choose who will make laws for them. 
? They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions. 
? They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and 
law making. 
Page 3


ELECTORAL POLITICS  
OVERVIEW 
? In a democracy it is neither possible nor 
necessary for people to govern directly. The 
most common democracy in our times is for the 
people to govern through their representatives. 
In this project  I ,SHEENA GUPTA OF CLASS-IX B, 
ROLL NO:45 would tell why elections are 
necessary and useful in a democracy. What 
makes an election democratic. The rest of the 
project tries to access elections in India in the 
light of this yardstick. At the end of the project , 
we turn to an assessment of whether elections in 
India are free and fair. 
WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS? 
      Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than one 
hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose 
people’s representatives. Elections are held in many countries that are not 
democratic. 
 
      But why do we need elections? Let us try to imagine a democracy without 
elections. A rule of people is possible without any elections if all the 
people can sit together everyday and take all the decisions. But, this is not 
possible in any large community. Nor it is possible for everyone to have 
the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore in most 
democracies people rule through their representatives. 
 
      In an election the voters make many choices: 
? They can choose who will make laws for them. 
? They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions. 
? They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and 
law making. 
WHAT MAKES AN ELECTION 
DEMOCRATIC? 
     Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic 
countries hold elections. But most non-democratic 
countries also hold some kind of elections. A simple list 
of the minimum conditions of a democratic elections is: 
 
? First, everyone should be able to choose. This means 
that everyone should have one vote and every vote 
should have equal value. 
? Second, there should be something to choose from. 
Parties and candidates should be free to contest 
elections and should offer some real choice to the 
voters. 
? Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. 
Elections must be held regularly after every few years. 
? Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should 
get elected. 
? Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair 
manner where people can choose as they really wish. 
Page 4


ELECTORAL POLITICS  
OVERVIEW 
? In a democracy it is neither possible nor 
necessary for people to govern directly. The 
most common democracy in our times is for the 
people to govern through their representatives. 
In this project  I ,SHEENA GUPTA OF CLASS-IX B, 
ROLL NO:45 would tell why elections are 
necessary and useful in a democracy. What 
makes an election democratic. The rest of the 
project tries to access elections in India in the 
light of this yardstick. At the end of the project , 
we turn to an assessment of whether elections in 
India are free and fair. 
WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS? 
      Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than one 
hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose 
people’s representatives. Elections are held in many countries that are not 
democratic. 
 
      But why do we need elections? Let us try to imagine a democracy without 
elections. A rule of people is possible without any elections if all the 
people can sit together everyday and take all the decisions. But, this is not 
possible in any large community. Nor it is possible for everyone to have 
the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore in most 
democracies people rule through their representatives. 
 
      In an election the voters make many choices: 
? They can choose who will make laws for them. 
? They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions. 
? They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and 
law making. 
WHAT MAKES AN ELECTION 
DEMOCRATIC? 
     Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic 
countries hold elections. But most non-democratic 
countries also hold some kind of elections. A simple list 
of the minimum conditions of a democratic elections is: 
 
? First, everyone should be able to choose. This means 
that everyone should have one vote and every vote 
should have equal value. 
? Second, there should be something to choose from. 
Parties and candidates should be free to contest 
elections and should offer some real choice to the 
voters. 
? Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. 
Elections must be held regularly after every few years. 
? Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should 
get elected. 
? Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair 
manner where people can choose as they really wish. 
WHAT IS OUR SYSTEM OF 
ELECTIONS? 
o Can we say that Indian elections are democratic? 
To answer this question, let us take a look at how 
elections are held in India. Lok sabha and vidhan 
sabha (assembly) elections are held regularly after 
every five years. After five years the term of the 
elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok 
sabha or vidhan sabha stands ‘dissolved'. 
Elections are held in all constituencies at the 
same time, either on the same day or within a few 
days. This is called a general election. Sometimes 
election is held only for one constituency to fill the 
vacancy caused by death or resignation of a 
member. This is called a by-election.   
Page 5


ELECTORAL POLITICS  
OVERVIEW 
? In a democracy it is neither possible nor 
necessary for people to govern directly. The 
most common democracy in our times is for the 
people to govern through their representatives. 
In this project  I ,SHEENA GUPTA OF CLASS-IX B, 
ROLL NO:45 would tell why elections are 
necessary and useful in a democracy. What 
makes an election democratic. The rest of the 
project tries to access elections in India in the 
light of this yardstick. At the end of the project , 
we turn to an assessment of whether elections in 
India are free and fair. 
WHY DO WE NEED ELECTIONS? 
      Elections take place regularly in any democracy. There are more than one 
hundred countries in the world in which elections take place to choose 
people’s representatives. Elections are held in many countries that are not 
democratic. 
 
      But why do we need elections? Let us try to imagine a democracy without 
elections. A rule of people is possible without any elections if all the 
people can sit together everyday and take all the decisions. But, this is not 
possible in any large community. Nor it is possible for everyone to have 
the time and knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore in most 
democracies people rule through their representatives. 
 
      In an election the voters make many choices: 
? They can choose who will make laws for them. 
? They can choose who will form the government and take major decisions. 
? They can choose the party whose policies will guide the government and 
law making. 
WHAT MAKES AN ELECTION 
DEMOCRATIC? 
     Elections can be held in many ways. All democratic 
countries hold elections. But most non-democratic 
countries also hold some kind of elections. A simple list 
of the minimum conditions of a democratic elections is: 
 
? First, everyone should be able to choose. This means 
that everyone should have one vote and every vote 
should have equal value. 
? Second, there should be something to choose from. 
Parties and candidates should be free to contest 
elections and should offer some real choice to the 
voters. 
? Third, the choice should be offered at regular intervals. 
Elections must be held regularly after every few years. 
? Fourth, the candidate preferred by the people should 
get elected. 
? Fifth, elections should be conducted in a free and fair 
manner where people can choose as they really wish. 
WHAT IS OUR SYSTEM OF 
ELECTIONS? 
o Can we say that Indian elections are democratic? 
To answer this question, let us take a look at how 
elections are held in India. Lok sabha and vidhan 
sabha (assembly) elections are held regularly after 
every five years. After five years the term of the 
elected representatives comes to an end. The Lok 
sabha or vidhan sabha stands ‘dissolved'. 
Elections are held in all constituencies at the 
same time, either on the same day or within a few 
days. This is called a general election. Sometimes 
election is held only for one constituency to fill the 
vacancy caused by death or resignation of a 
member. This is called a by-election.   
ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES 
? For Lok sabha elections, the country is divided into 543 
constituencies. The representative elected from each 
constituency is called a member of parliament or an MP. One 
of the feature of democratic election is that every vote should 
have equal value. That is why our constitution requires that 
each constituency should have a roughly equal population 
living within it. 
? Similarly, each state is divided into a specific number of 
assembly constituencies. In this case, the elected 
representative is called the member of legislative assembly or 
an MLA. Each parliamentary constituency has within it 
several assemblies constituencies. The same principle applies 
for panchayat and municipal elections. Each village or town is 
divided into several ‘wards’ that are like constituencies. Each 
ward elects one member of the village or the urban local body. 
Sometimes, these constituencies are counted as ‘seats', for 
each constituency represents one seat in the assembly.