Continuous Reinvention of Democracies

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The law of the land in any democracy is to make the law and all its people follow it.  Defining democracy can be very simple or very complicated, but enjoying the freedom that is fostered what makes it a rightful aspect of life.  The law of the land starts with electing representatives with a simple majority, who in turn manage the people’s business the administration and making or adjusting the law of the land to best suit the needs of its population.  As all the elected representatives are for a definitive period (sometimes limited to reelection, or term limits), the electorate always has the option to replace or reelect the same person.  Essentially people have the ultimate power to choose who represents them.

Voter preferences, choices and needs are reflected each time they vote.  Exercising the right to vote and choose the representatives that follow, enforce and reinvent the law of the land on a continuous basis makes the democracy to reinvent the people’s process again and again.  It is continuous.

From the oldest democracy to the largest democracy, the right to vote is the supreme form of expression of freedom.  The votes evolve with the nation and international needs, and they also evolve with the practical needs of the society.  The experiences of the past and the needs of today, and how candidates represent their ways to address them, and finally how convinced is the voter makes the next winner.  A combination of socio-economic reality and the combination of promises verses deliverables to make up the choice for the voter, over the past 20 to 30 years the television, internet and more recent mobiles have made the voter interaction and reach instant and readily available to feed to the information overload.  Voter once again must decode the truth from what is being fed.

Irrespective of the election cycle, the voter choice is made on perception and need.  It is true that each election and its electoral deliverables adapt to the current events.  Although long term implications of the decisions taken by the government impact past and future, the current needs weigh heavily on voter decision making.  Catastrophes do play into elections, but they don’t happen every day to swing the elections.

Today’s events and coverage, the mood of the electorate and certainly how a candidate pitches will sway the percentage of people who comprise of the swing votes that will determine the winner.  The swing is slim as most elections are so close and 50.01% is all that is needed to victory.  When the electorate is deciding to vote on a party platform (irrespective of what they are pitching) the undecided or independent voters are to a minimum in the population, and almost all the time the candidates are not just pitching their base of voters, but also to the undecided.  The undecided are the ones that typically deliver the electoral victory.

Huge electoral margins are anomalies in democracies.  People are divided based on their ideologies, need, opportunity, opinions and many other factors that are unrelated to governance.  So, gaining the swing voters into perspective typically determines the victory.  Prejudice and dislikes also count, but in a democracy, you are free to decide on who to vote, as only you are aware of what is in you mind.

While democracy itself is self-sustaining (people like being free to make choices) the process of democracy itself continues to reinvent and incorporate the nuances of a free world.  Each election also reinvents the process and systems of democracy, and peaceful transition of power.  Freedom of choice allowing free thinking, allowing the citizens to evaluate, reevaluate and reinvent the thoughts into each election, and continuing to drive them for the benefit of people.