What is the most important mechanism for fixing accountability in a democratic country? Is it the election- of the fear of not getting reelected?
Well, only to a small extent- given the temporal nature of elections.
In order to hold governments accountable, voters must be able to assign clear responsibility for government performance. However, what are the mechanisms for doing that? Do the voters know or have full information about the performance of their representatives in the parliament? Does s/he attend the sessions? Does s/he participate in the proceedings? What are his/ her stand on policies and issues impacting the constituencies? Given the total lack of transparency on these counts- what are the mechanisms of sanctioning the conduct of politicians.
Elections are fought and won on temporal issues- inflation/ price rise, terror and notions of security, employment- these are the most visible issues that evoke voting reactions. Fixing accountability does not find a place here- it is somebody else’s agenda.
Right to Information is a powerful instrument and so are the Public Interest Litigations. But both are case specific- you cannot have a country running on a few individual’s grit and determination to fix accountability in some cases. You need systems for that. Where are the systems? Why don’t we ask for them?
For more such discussions visit http://www.csopartners.org.in/blog
- Ipsita Basu
What is the most important mechanism for fixing accountability in a democratic country? Is it the election- of the fear of not getting reelected?
Well, only to a small extent- given the temporal nature of elections.
In order to hold governments accountable, voters must be able to assign clear responsibility for government performance. However, what are the mechanisms for doing that? Do the voters know or have full information about the performance of their representatives in the parliament? Does s/he attend the sessions? Does s/he participate in the proceedings? What are his/ her stand on policies and issues impacting the constituencies? Given the total lack of transparency on these counts- what are the mechanisms of sanctioning the conduct of politicians.
Elections are fought and won on temporal issues- inflation/ price rise, terror and notions of security, employment- these are the most visible issues that evoke voting reactions. Fixing accountability does not find a place here- it is somebody else’s agenda.
Right to Information is a powerful instrument and so are the Public Interest Litigations. But both are case specific- you cannot have a country running on a few individual’s grit and determination to fix accountability in some cases. You need systems for that. Where are the systems? Why don’t we ask for them?
For more such discussions visit http://www.csopartners.org.in/blog
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