Democracy: A Study of Attitudes of Indian Youth

Democracy: A Study of Attitudes of Indian Youth Vijay Laxmi Pandit Rajdhani College University of Delhi (vijaypandit50@gmail.com) Paper for presentation in Panel 303 of the Research Committee on Political Socialisation and Education at the XXIst World Congress of the International Political Science Association Santiago, Chile, July 12-16, 2009 Democracy: A Study of Attitudes of Indian Youth Vijay Laxmi Pandit 1. Introduction Despite all its limitations democracy is still the most accepted political system. The influence of democracy is such that even those systems with dictatorial tendencies prefer to be called democratic. Democracy has been defined differently be different people. Prominent theories have asserted that democracy requires a distinct set of political values and orientations from its 1

citizens. Tolerance, efficacy, knowledge and participation are some of the most Discussion Draft important factors bearing an influence on the persistence of the breakdown of democracy. Patterns of beliefs, values and attitudes concerning political systems differ significantly not only among countries but also within a country (for example see Almond/Verba 1963 and Inkeles/Smith 1974). In the fifties, Lipset and inkeles (1961) demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between economic development and democracy. In the eighties, Inkeles and Diamond (1980) presented more direct evidence of a relationship between the prevalence of democratic attitudes and the level of economics development. More recently, Inglehart (1990:45) has found that life satisfaction, interpersonal trust and nonacceptance of revolutionary change are correlated with economic development as well as stable democracy. Another important aspect taken into account while studying democracy in modern societies is the role of political elites. The proponents of this theory believe that competitive politics first developed among a small elite, but that the severity of conflict remained restrained because of their interests and ideology. These studies have been categorized as the study of the political culture in a society. They point out that the neglect of masses can pose serious problems for the survival and development of a democratic system (see Highley/Gunther 1992). The development of mass democratic culture has been recognized as one of the most important prerequisites for the emergence and consolidation of democracy (see Diamond 1992). This is perhaps `re-discovering` something which has been lost in the past couple of decades: political culture independently of other variables does matter of democracy. This paper is a modest attempt in this direction. It looks at, the relationship between political culture and emergence, maintenance and furtherance of democracy. According, to Pye and Verba (1965), there is a diversity among political systems, and very little can be said in general terms amount the content of political cultures in each country, since due to different socialization processes there can be different values, sentiments, loyalities and commitments. Despite these differences the relationship 2

between political culture and development tends to focus on many of the same values. Accordingly, there are four themes relating to the presence or absence of four specific values, which are repeatedly related to fundamental issues arising in the development process. These are (according to Pye/Verba 1965): Political cultures are built upon the fundamental faith that it is possible to Trust and work with fellowmen or upon the expectation that most people are to be distrusted and that strangers, in particular, are likely to be dangerous. An equal obstacle to development, however, is the uncritical trust in all forms of higher authority and rule. Universally, all political cultures must deal with attitudes towards power, for all politics must involve the relations between superiors and inferiors, between initiators and followers. Development demands effective leadership, but it also encompasses sentiments about equality and the absence of the all arbitrary distinctions in status. There is a close relationship between liberty and coercion. Liberty is the most important aspect of democratic political culture. The process of democratic political development calls for the study of the level of loyalty and commitment. People should not become alienated or hostile towards the system. Almond and Verba (1963), Lipset (1981), Dahl (1971) and inkeles and Diamond (1980) have established a relationship between democracy and political culture. A culture of moderation, cooperation, bargaining and accommodation among political elites emerges as the major theme of these democratic theorists. 2. Political Culture and Democracy The relationship between political culture and democracy is very old. Classical Greek political thinkers talked about it. Aristotle pointed out the importance of moderation and tolerance and also warned about the dangers of political extremism and unfettered populism. These elements of political culture were necessary conditions to copy with one of the central dilemmas of democracy, namely, to balance division and conflict with the need for consensus (see Lipset 1981,Almond/Verba 1963, Diamond 1990). These elements can be induced by structural and institutional incentives and disincentives. However, these orientations cannot survive unless they are deeply embedded in the 3

system of beliefs and values not only of elites but also of the masses (see Lipset 1990, Inkeles 1961, Almond/Verba 1963 and Dahl 1971). Although recent treatments have realized and recognized the importance of developing these variables for a successful democracy, treatment suffers, according to Diamond (1993: 11), from three defects: Firstly, mass culture has either been completely ignored or given scant attention. Secondly, behaviour has been talked about, but not about how it becomes rooted in enduring values. Thirdly, other elements of political culture, relevant at mass level, have been completely neglected. In view of the fact that the mass level has been so much neglected in democratic theories, it may be worthwhile quoting Mills (cited in Diamond 1993:12) here: The people for whom the form of government is intended must be willing to accept it, or at least not so unwilling as to oppose the insurmountable obstacle to its establishment. They must be willing and be able to do what is necessary to keep it standing. And they must be willing and be able to do what it requires of them to enable it to fulfill its purposes. The word `do` is to be understood as indulging forbearances and as well acts. 3. Attitudes toward Authority, Legitimacy, Participation and the Civic Culture Attitudes toward authority is an important variable of democracy, Inkeles (1961) discussed this relationship and identified the following components of the syndrome: flexibility, trust, efficacy, openness to new ideas and experiences, tolerance of differences and ambiguities, acceptance of others and an attitude towards authority that is neither `blindly submissive `nor` hostilely rejecting` but rather `responsible` and watchful`. Another condition necessary for democracy is the belief in the legitimacy of democracy. Performance of democracy in a regime is to be evaluated not only in terms of economic growth and social reform but also in terms of capacity to maintain law and order, to govern with transparency and to maintain rule of law. Participation of the citizen enhances the legitimacy of the system. Participation have means a norm of political life 4

and the behavioural disposition to actually participate in politics. The `civic culture` involves an active rule of the self in the polity (see Almond/Verba 1963:19). This role involves not only voting but also a high level of political interest, information, knowledge, opinion formation and organizational membership. Almond and Verba (1963) call it political efficacy or competence, whereas the inverse of this, fatalism, is not merely its absence, but a way of life that generates an authoritarian political system. Early socialization, the actual responsiveness of the political system and the general belief in democratic legitimacy are some of the factors that shape competence of the citizen. A study of political culture implies the study of several aspects of citizens thinking about the nature and functioning of democracy as well as about the relationship between the government and individual citizens. Thus, political culture serves as an important filter affecting political action because of the way that it constrains perceptions regarding politics, notions of what constitutes political problems and prescriptions for resolving these problems. Among the citizens of any country the young occupy a very important place. They play a vital role in the continuation and strengthening of democracy. If we look at the history of the world, we will find that youth have been growing in historical importance. Youth is the developmental phase during which essential values, attitudes, perspectives for action and finally personality are formed. Because of the pivotal position occupied by the young in a democratic system, we would like to focus our attention upon their attitudes, beliefs and values with regard to democracy. 4. Youth The number of old people is growing faster than the total population in the world especially in developed world. The current growth rate of old people, worldwide, which is 1.9 per cent is higher than that of the total population growth rate of 1.2 per cent. This is leading to a change in young-old balance. In the developed world, the population of the old exceeds that of children and it is estimated that by 2050 it will double. 5

On the other hand, India will be having, by 2026, only 8 per cent of the old people and remaining will be under 65 years of age. This means that India will have in 2025, 64.3 per cent working age population (15-59 years) as against 56 per cent of USA. 46.1 per cent will be total dependency ratio of India as against 53.2 per cent of world s average in 2025. 23.2 per cent will be younger people (0-14 years) in India as against 18.4 per cent of China in 2025. The population of old people (60+ years) in 2025 will be 12.5 per cent in India as against 28.2 per cent of the developed world. The 2.8 per cent labour force growth in India will result into a surplus of 47 million working age people. On the other hand, by 2020 all countries of the world will face shortage of workers. For example, there will be a shortage of working age people to the tune of 17 million in USA, 10 million in China, 9 million in Japan and 6 million in Russia. As against total shortfall of 42 million for all these countries, India will have a surplus of 47 million working age population (see Neogi 2005). The importance of youth in a country is quite obvious. More young people are an advantage for a country. India is one of the countries of the world which is having a large population of youth. According to an unpublished study by Morgan Stanley, by 2020, an average Indian will be 29 years as compared to 37 for Americans and Chinese and 45 for West Europeans and 48 for Japanese (see Neoigi 2005). Until 2040 India will remain one of the youngest countries in the world. By 2020, nearly half of the voting population will be under 25 years of age. A demographic change of this magnitude and nature is not only significant but will have ramifications for the democracy. More young voters will lead to younger leadership as well as fresh perspectives on policies to be pursued by the country. It is clear from the above that current demographic profile of India is heavily in favour of youth. It has political and social consequences not only for India but also for the world. An attempt is made in the paper to explore values, attitudes and beliefs of Indian youth about politics and political action. 6

This being an exploratory study, we decided to confine it to 200 youths only. All 200 youths were residents of Delhi and selected randomly. The data was collected by interviewing these youth with the help of an open-ended questionnaire containing a series of questions with regard to values, attitudes and beliefs. 5. Socio-economic Characteristics of Youth The socio-economic characteristics of our sample respondents are summarised in Table 1. 78 per cent of our respondents belong to 18-20 years age group and remaining 22 per cent belong to 20-24 years age group. There were 60 per cent male and 40 per cent female respondents. 60 per cent of our respondents belong to general category and 40 per cent belong to disadvantaged sections of the society. Religious affiliation of our respondents show that three fourth (76 per cent) were Hindus, 10 per cent were Muslims, 6 per cent were Sikhs, 5 per cent were Christians and 3 per cent did not believe in any religion. More than two-third (68 per cent) respondents had education up to secondary level; under-graduate accounted for 25 per cent and only 7 per cent were graduate. As far as economic status of our respondents is concerned, a substantial majority (60 per cent) belonged to the middle class. 30 per cent respondents stated that they belonged to the upper class. Only 10 per cent stated that they belonged to lower middle class. 6. Analysis of Data The respondents were first asked to describe ten characteristics of ideal democracy and then to judge the extent to which these characteristics were actually present. Their replies are given in Table 2. 7. Economic Democracy All respondents (cent per cent) stated that economic self-sufficiency is necessary for democracy. However, only 20 per cent stated that it is actually present. They were of the opinion that economic equality of people had not been achieved so far. In the field of economic democracy, they preferred use of modern science and technology to solve the contemporary problems of India. However, they made a distinction between the use of 7

modern science and technology for industrial purposes; for purpose of consumption with regard to industrial products; and, for the development of a scientific attitude. We further probed our respondents by asking them to tell us which is the most important characteristics of democracy: economic security or freedom. Their replies are given in Table 3. A large majority (85 per cent) favoured economic rather than political aspects of democracy. The situation is serious and alarming and has ramifications for governance. The success of government is going to depend upon its economic performance. If the economy slow down, so will be slipping down of the support of people. 8. Elections 95 per cent of our respondents recognized the importance and significance of free and fair elections for success of representative democracy. But only 60 per cent respondents felt that India had free and fair elections. Though we had fifteen General Elections and participation of people had shown an upward trend yet there was a large section of population namely, the poor who had no say in the electoral process. They do not have a real choice of candidates. Money and muscle power, communalism and other malpractices of our electoral system adversely affect the democratic outcome of elections. Failure of the system to meet the expectations of the people may lead to protests, demonstrations and violence. Increase participation is, therefore, illusive and does not necessarily increase the concern for democratic values. 9. Equality Equality is one of the essential ingredients of democracy. As a matter of fact democracy is based on the principle of equality. This realization led 94 per cent of our respondents to state equality as the core of representative democracy. To what extent Indian democracy has it? Only 20 per cent of our respondents stated that we have equality. 8

The Preamble of the Indian Constitution expresses the solemn resolve of the people of India to secure to all citizens Justice, Social, Economic and Political. Equality of Status and of Opportunity. The Constitution also provides for fundamental rights, one of which guarantees equality of opportunity for all citizens and also prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of these. India, however, is a country which is well known for institutionalized inequalities. Large sections of people suffer under many historical disabilities and they are victims of calculated oppression and deliberate exploitation. Reservation is the device, used by India, for removal of social distortions that have erupt historically in our social system. Objectives of reservation are advancement and integration of the disadvantaged sections of the society in the mainstream of our national life. Our respondents were very critical of the reservation policies of the Government. They were of the opinion that continuation and expansion of the system of quotas would set the society in reverse gear. Quotas have become source of benefits and privileges especially for the creamy layers. They have become a source of caste jealousies and rivalries threatening to cause fragmentation of the society. Instead of becoming forward, many castes and groups are seen competing for getting declared backward. All our respondents including the ones belong to disadvantaged sections of the society asked for rationalization of reservation policy. They preferred a vibrant system of accessible and affordable quality education along with schemes of affirmative actions to help under privileged children, youth and adults irrespective of their caste, creed or gender. In a democracy, people elect their representatives to run the government. People expect that their representatives will look after interests of the people who have elected them. However, 96 per cent of our respondents were of the opinion that elected representatives of people serve their own interest (Table 4). 9

Political parties are major structures of politics in modern societies. A party in a democracy is a group that competes for political power by contesting elections, Discussion Draft mobilizing social interests and advocating ideological positions, thus linking citizens to the political system. Success of democracy depends, to a large extent, upon the functioning of political parties. An overwhelming majority (80 per cent) of our respondents stated that political parties serve their own interests (interest of the leader) and pay little attention to aspirations of the people. (Table 5). Youth in India, feel that both political elite and political parties are busy in looking after and furthering their own interests and the masses are mere spectators in the power game. Thus there was a high level of cynicism among the youth towards the government and political parties. It is not so important that there exists a high level of cynicism among the youth but what is important and significant is that the youth do not reject the political system. 10. Emerging Trends Following trends emerge from the above discussion: 1. The form of government, preferred by youth, is democracy. They have high trust in it despite its limitations. 2. Youth prefer economic democracy over the political democracy. 3. There is dissatisfaction and apathy among the youth because of the failure of the electoral process to act as an instrument of socio-economic change. The electoral system helps is maintaining status quo. Increasing communalization, criminalization and use of money power in elections are disturbing the Indian youth. 4. Youth have lost confidence in the political system especially in political elites and political parties. A tendency to use violent methods to influence the political system can not be ruled out. 5. The widespread inequality in the Indian society is disturbing the youth. The policy of reservation, used by the Government, to tackle this problem, does not target the basic issues: the political and economic set up and cultural values of the society. They would like to have alongwith reservation policy schemes of affirmative actions. 10

6. Unemployment is giving birth to a feeling of economic insecurity among the youth. This may force them to fall into the trap of fundamentalism: emergence of various rightist and caste and religion based groups. In all probability this trend is going to increase in India. 11. Concluding Observations The major problem of Indian democracy is to widen its scope by increasing the involvement of youth in the democratic process. It will result into rationalization and legitimization of political outcomes. This means, broadening of opportunities for political participation beyond the traditional sphere of electoral politics. Though we have noticed a high level of cynicism towards the government, among the youth, with regard to what goes in politics yet surprisingly they do not reject the political system. Youth have raised the economic as well as socio-political equality issues. If political parties do not respond to these issues, then youth may resort to unconventional forms of action. Such participation may, in some cases, limit and pose serious threats to the very survival of democracy. Government has to be vigilant about it and devise ways to respond to the widely differing values and goals of the public if they have to be relevant in a democratic system. Mass media has to play an important role with regard to unconventional participation. Political action as instrumental action requires organization. We may witness emergence of ad-hoc groups and single issue movements. Mass media will help in motivating, mobilizing and organizing people and also in highlighting their objectives for both the people and the government. References Almond, G.A. and S.Verba (1963), The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Dahl, R.A. (1971), Polarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press. 11

Diamond, I.J. (1990), Three Paradoxes of Democracy, Journal of Democracy, 1 (Summer), 56-58. Diamond, I.J. (ed.) (1992), The Democratic Revolution: Struggles for Freedom and Pluralism in the Developing World. New York: Freedom House. Diamond, I.J. (1993), Introduction, pp.7-11 in I.J.Diamond (ed.), Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. Highley, J. and R. Gunther (eds.) (1992), Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Inglehart, R. (1990), Cultural Shift in Advanced Industrial Countries. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Inkeles, A. and D. Smith (1974). Becoming Modern: Individual Change in Six Developing Nations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Inkeles, A. and I. Diamond (1990). Personal Qualities as a Reflection of Level of National Development, pp.73-109 in F. Andrews and A. Szelai (eds.). Comparative Studies in the Quality of Life. London: Sage. Lipset, S.M. (1981). Economic Development and Democracy, pp.27-63 in S.M. Lipset (ed.), Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Lipset, S.M. and A. Inkeles (1961). National Character and Modern Political Systems, pp.193-99 in F.I.K. Hsu (ed.). Psychological Anthropology: Approaches to Culture and Personality. Homewood: Dorsey Press. Neogi, Saikat (2005). Demographic Gift, Hindustan Times. p.8. Delhi: 3 October. Pye, L.W. and S. Verba (eds.) (1965). Political Culture and Political Development. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 12

Table 1 Socio-Economic Characteristics Age Sex Caste Religion Education Characteristics 18-20 years 20-24 years Male Female General Disadvantaged Sections of the Society Hindu Muslim Sikh Christian None Secondary Under-Graduate Graduate Economic Status Lower Middle Class Middle Class Upper Class Percentage 78 22 60 40 60 40 76 10 6 5 3 68 25 7 10 60 30 13

Table 2 Essential Features of Democracy Characteristics Need for Democracy (%) Actually Present (%) Political Competition 85 75 Freedom of Movement and 90 50 Expression Equality 94 20 Free and Fair Elections 95 60 Participation by Citizens in Policy 75 25 Making Strong Opposition 72 28 Federal Structure 50 40 Independent Judiciary 80 10 Economic Self-sufficiency 100 20 Responsive Political Elite 88 10 Responsive Political Parties 80 10 Table 3 Preference concerning Economic Security and Freedom (%) Economic Security 85 Freedom 12 Table 4 Weather Representatives serve the interests of the People or their Own (%) People 4 Own 96 Table 5 Whether Political Parties serve the interests of the People or their Own (%) People 18 Own 80 14