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Delhi

Political parties must reform to restore confidence of people in democracy: Experts on CSDS survey

The study also showed that the number of respondents having faith in democracy was less than 50 per cent in this period.

“The increasing liking of the people for ‘authoritarian rule in certain conditions’ could be attributed to misuse of democratic governance by political parties and bureaucracy. They have turned into <g data-gr-id="41">new-feudal</g> political system which is a worrying trend,” said MP Singh, former head of Department of Political Science in Delhi University. In the study of CSDS published as Democracy in India: A Citizens’ Perceptive, the percentage of people preferring democracy over any other kind of government was 49 <g data-gr-id="42">per cent</g> in 2005 which further decreased to 46 <g data-gr-id="43">per cent</g> in 2013. 

“The political parties in India are so opposed to the political reforms that both government and opposition gang up to thwart out any attempt of political reform. There should be internal elections, auditing of accounts and more transparency in political parties on the recommendations of Venkatachaliah Commission,” he added. 

The report, released recently is part of <g data-gr-id="37">global</g> survey on attitudes to democracy covering over 6,043 respondents in 22 states comprising various caste, religion, class and gender. Singh, however, praised the independent judiciary and constitutional bodies for holding <g data-gr-id="35">confidence</g> of people in <g data-gr-id="36">democracy</g>. According to the report, the percentage of people preferring autocracy over democracy in certain conditions increased from 6 <g data-gr-id="44">per cent</g> in 2005 to 11 <g data-gr-id="45">per cent</g> in 2013, while those showing indifference were also increased from 15 to 16 <g data-gr-id="46">per cent</g> in the same period. “On Sunday, people want efficient government. 

They want a government which can fulfil their expectations,” said Himanshu Roy, associate professor, Political Science in Delhi University. He, however, opined out that the preference to the type of government varies according to age, education, economic and social status. Director of CSDS Sanjay Kumar said the study was also conducted in four neighbouring countries — Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal for a comparative analysis.

“The report’s main aim was to identify the people’s perspective of having a democratic government or authoritarian and to understand the people’s wish of having democracy and government in the way they want it,” said Singh. The report revealed that in 2013 people preferring democracy in Sri Lanka were 73 per cent followed by Bangladesh (71), India (46), Nepal (40) and Pakistan (36) while people preferring authoritarian government were 29 per cent in Pakistan followed by India (11), Nepal (8), Sri Lanka (3) and Bangladesh (2).
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