Democracy and Civil Society

In countries such as India and the United States, which are one of the most diverse, vibrant and largest democracies in the world in terms of culture, region, language, ethnicity etc., there is a need for both- Democratically elected institutions and the Civil Societies. In order to better understand the role of the two we need to answer few questions like what does democracy mean, what is and can be the role of civil society, can the civil societies replace the democratic institutions, or can they exist together to deliver public goods more effectively. Let's look into this one by one.

A democracy aims at a social order wherein the people would be sovereign and the government would be elected by the people who are allowed to exercise their franchise freely and fairly. It also means that the elections are held at regular intervals and the elected governments are accountable for their deeds to the people. The rule of law shall prevail and no one could act arbitrarily. The two largest democracies of world, India and the United States, have shared belief in the Theory of separation of powers, Doctrine of checks and balances, a set of fundamental rights for individuals and communities and the most important of all the Independence of Judiciary.  

On the other hand, a civil society concerns that part of society which is not under the direct control of the state. The modern view of civil society is fundamentally a functional and normative concept.  Civil society is a mechanism which produces, maintains and manifests some basic and essential social goods. In democracies like India and the United States, Civil Society is the mechanism to ensure the accountability of government, to make the democratic processes more participative and to strengthen the civic ties by holding public discussion and resolving conflicts. The relationship between state and its people, called citizenship, is strengthened by civil society. Citizens are made in civil society to effectively engage the state. To this regard, it is also very important that a citizen interacts effectively with the local government.

Mahatma Gandhi visualized a self sustained village economy and democracy functional at the Gram Panchayat level (Village Level). Some of the civil society members also argued for this in their recent agitations against corruption, black money and land acquisition deals.

In India in the recent events of corruption cases, black money, inflation which is also being attributed to the parallel economy running on account of black money, various land allotments made to the kith and kin of family members of politicians and bureaucrats and numerous dubious land acquisition deals, it is utmost important to take a pause and look towards our democratic framework to ensure that events like these don't happen and if they do happen in the future, they are curbed appreciably. People have lost faith in leaders of political parties across party lines. People have lost faith in bureaucracy. They feel that members of Parliament(MPs), Members of Legislative Assembly(MLAs) and the democratic institutions are ineffective in curbing the menace. They see a wide gap between themselves and these elected bodies to get their grievances addressed locally and effectively. Moreover, at the central and the state level, if the MPs and MLAs are from opposition parties they are rarely heard of by the political party in power. At the same time party/parties in power and people having affiliations to such ruling parties get involved in scams. Bewildered people almost revolted against the ruling party in the form of widespread agitation which was originally meant for corruption. It proves the dire need of some mechanism in the form of grass root level democratic institutions and civil society in order to give voice to the concerns of people in the interim period of general elections.

Government of India enacted 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment to bring democracy and democratic institutions to the village and town level. But in order to make it more effective and functional more authority must be vested with these institutions. More subjects must be brought under their ambit. Being closer to the public it will be more open to public scrutiny to ensure accountability. More financial autonomy is also desired as they are in a better position to cater to local development. At present they are just monitoring and implementing the centralized schemes of the central and the state governments. A regular free and fair election is one more aspect that should be looked into.

Not only these bodies at local levels there is a need for an independent institution to ensure accountability of  the public servants which has been at the centre of demand of civil societies. At the behest of civil society only, people came out in large numbers to protest against corruption even if they didn't know much about the anti-corruption bill drafted by the society i.e., Jan Lokapal Bill. The protest and the purpose it served i.e., starting the process of enactment of a law to establish anti-corruption watchdog like Lokpal and Lokayukta is commendable. Bodies like Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are too centralized a body to look into corruption case at this level. Moreover, every time we come across that CBI is being arm-twisted by government. These institutions should be given more autonomy and their mandate should be expanded to corruption cases. But with a country as large as India devoting CBI for corruption cases doesn't seem to be a wise proposition. Rather bodies like Lokpal and Lokayukta and their district level functionaries can better look into such cases of corruption explicitly and effectively. Some of the civil societies even drafted a legislation in this regard. This shows the enthusiasm of  people at large to tackle corruption in order to ensure good governance and to impose accountability. But imposing a civil society's draft bill on an institution like Parliament seems unfair and demeaning in a democracy. Here comes in the responsibility on the part of civil society to show flexibilities for negotiation.

In diverse countries such as India and the United States, democracy is a must to keep its federal structure intact and to maintain the identity of country as a whole. Parliament or the legislature and the executive body must be respected. We must have faith in these democratic institutions. Otherwise, it will lead us nowhere except towards chaos. Civil society is complementary to these institutions. The erosion of faith in democratic institutions need to be restored by bringing in more legislations like Right to Information Act, Acts to establish anti corruption watchdogs, Whistleblowers act, Right to service act etc.  At the same time conviction in criminal and corruption cases should be in a time bound manner.

Not only bringing an effective legislation will reestablish the faith of people in democratic institutions but its implementation is also important. The body or institutions that ensure accountability on the part of government or public servants should be able to function in an impartial and independent manner. The bills must make provisions to ensure their autonomy. The basic principles of democratic institutions of ‘Theory of separation of power' and 'Doctrine of checks and balances' must also be kept in mind to ensure that the anti corruption watchdog does not turn into a monster. Definitely, the third pillar of democracy, the judiciary, must also be brought under the purview of anti corruption watchdog. If someone can't criticize judiciary it doesn't mean that there is nothing wrong in there. The Supreme Court every now and then shouts at the government but it has failed to look into the selection process of judges and the large number of pending cases in the lower courts and the high courts. Justice delayed is justice denied. Judiciary is the constituent that safeguards the democracy by providing the remedy to executive excesses. So we can imagine the important role it plays in democracy.

Democracy is further strengthened by bringing in views from civil society while drafting a legislation. One such organization is National Advisory Council in India. To make democracy more functional and vibrant, it is very important to do wide ranging discussion and deliberations not only in Parliament but also with these civil societies. It provides a way in which people can present the collective view of society and get it incorporated in the legislations that are made.

So the question is not whether civil society can replace the democratic institutions but it is the question of how the delivery of public good can be ensured in a transparent, effective and accountable manner.

In a nutshell we can say that democracy is furthered and strengthened by delegating more powers to state and local level democratic institutions; bringing in more and more effective legislations to curtail corruption; ensuring transparency and imposing accountability. At the same time bringing in reforms in existing institutions is also necessary to avoid any redundancy of institutions. Involving civil society organizations makes the entire process of enacting and implementing laws more participatory. In addition to these it also fills up the gap of 5 years between elections during which effectively there is no public participation except protest.

With the participation of civil society, by refurbishing the faith of people in democratic institutions and making governance more transparent and accountable we can make democracy even more vibrant and participatory. Thus both civil society and democratic institutions coexist together with the former as the vibrant partner of the later.