Corruption the price of Democracy

"Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by corrupt few."

—George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

It is often quoted that monarchy is a merchantman, which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft, which would never sink but your feet are always in the water. While absolutist or despotic governments are undoubtedly a no-no, democracy is one form which is in sync with the form and spirit of the citizenry of today.

For it must not be forgotten that while the institutions of governance, though they are important, they are not superior to the citizen. It is this individual who imparts all the meaning and importance to them.

However, with the passage of time this has been reduced to an idea that had existed sometime in the history of politics. As Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it, "Every actual State is corrupt...what satire on government can equal the severity of censure conveyed in the word politic, which now for ages has signified cunning, intimating that the State is a trick?" Quite true, for all the power now stands usurped from the citizens and the politicians and bureaucrats wield the clout.

Though India is one of the largest democracies in the world, with all the trappings of a well-defined structure— parties, assemblies, elections, free press etc—it still appears to be mere gimmickry, with rampant corruption almost everywhere.

In a democracy, the concept of people's participation is emphasized on. The people's participation in our democracy, though, is limited to casting ballot once in five years, and here too, the poor, illiterate and gullible folk are fooled into voting the same set of deceivers to power again and again.

And what a choice they have—an assorted list of those with criminal backgrounds, one set that is embroiled in a bank scam and the other in a hawala scam. If one has been caught taking money on camera, the other has been different in only the way that he has been clever enough not to get caught.

Political parties, as one would like to believe, are born of ideologies where like- minds confer and resolve to represent and work towards their common belief. As time goes by, the ideology is pushed back to gather dust and the personalities begin to take lead. The party that had originally given the men a standing is sidelined and the personalities start corrupting the body, and as a result their conduct is steadily governed by the rules of power play than by reasoning.

Looking at such a scenario, it is more than evident that simply holding sections does not signify a political democracy. The citizen of today would swear by the liberalism and advantages that are promised by the concept of democracy, but in truth he would rather not have the men who have twisted it to suit their end.

A democracy does not mean doling out largesse to benefit the supporters in order to retain them as supporters—giving away petrol pumps, gas agencies, various licenses, land etc—nor does it make room for nepotism. Yet, all this exists.

In a democracy, one does not have to bribe at every step of the way to get the smallest of things done, or to pass through an unwieldy bureaucratic tangle for the tasks that can be accomplished through simplest of procedures. And that is the very reason why the zeal and enthusiasm has been replaced by a general sense of frustration and apathy.

The representatives have been given a great deal of free hand. The current picture with the coalition governments is all the more bleak. Precious time, money and resources have been spent in just keeping the allies in good humor. (Public Welfare—well what is that? We'll see when we have time!). The principle that works here is that you scratch my back and I scratch yours, if not, then the 'dog eats dog' policy will operate.

The citizen has to realise that it is time to call for his due. In the existing state of affairs, there is no parity in, for instance, a government servant serves for minimum of fifteen years and maximum of thirty to forty years of his life and then gets entitled to receive pension, while a politician has to serve only a cushy five years where he may or he may not do any substantial work before he begins to get his pension.

In another notable condition, while the ordinary man knows nothing but waiting for the most basic of facilities, the big capitalists are gratified for they fill the coffers of the parties. The politicians use this money, gained through unlawful ways to fund the election campaigns, and therefore initiatives, like disclosure of assets are strongly resisted by this coterie.

It is ironical that the people's representatives must go abroad for medical treatment, while the masses do not even have access to primary health services in many areas. The birthdays of political bigwigs are celebrated in a manner that would berate the magnitude of celebrations on the occasion of a festival, while countless people are falling prey to factors like starvation—one of the many afflictions that plague the country.

Wisdom decrees that answer to the abuse of formal government lies in strengthening of the individual character and growth of the self beyond its narrow attitude. And crux of the matter is that all the efforts targeted at banishing corruption from our lives cannot bear fruit unless the existing democratic setup is given a shake up and reminded of its real essence that has unfortunately been long forgotten.