| ID | 092205 |
| Title Proper | Limits of representative democracy |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Jayal, Niraja Gopal |
| Publication | 2009. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | We are conversant today with a variety of democratic deficits. There is the gap between the promise and performance of democracy; then there is also the gap between the success of procedural democracy and the failure of the project of substantive democracy. This paper reflects a different sort of democratic disappointment however. It is an interrogation, not of India's democracy per se, but of a particular strand of democratic discourse and practice in India that has become disconcertingly powerful in the last two decades. This is a line of argument that privileges representation-indeed a particular form of it-as the defining principle of democracy and in so doing, denudes the democratic ideal of all substantive content beyond representation. The microcosmic representation of all sections of the population in all institutions-not only those of public governance, but also others such as the media and the private sector-becomes the pursuit that inspires democracy, and as such every advance in this direction is seen to constitute a further deepening of democracy. |
| `In' analytical Note | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 32, No. 3; Dec 2009: p.326 - 337 |
| Journal Source | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 32, No. 3; Dec 2009: p.326 - 337 |
| Key Words | Representative Democracy ; Democracy ; India ; Public Governance |