Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes: Why Opposition’s ‘democracy in danger’s pitch cuts little ice with voters

What astir different constitutive elements of wide democracy, rights similar state of expression, checks and balances, respect for procedures and truthful forth? This is wherever the dangers of the authoritarian crook successful democracies are astir palpable. Yet these anxieties are blunted. It is precise hard for Congress successful India oregon the Democratic Party successful the US to presumption themselves arsenic unalloyed champions of escaped speech. The Right has, with immoderate justification, managed to person voters, that if determination are differences connected these constitutive rights, these are astatine champion differences of grade not kind. Second, determination is what you mightiness telephone country for “statistical innocence” successful the forms of societal power being applied. You inactive bash not person wide repression. Control works efficaciously done exemplary targeting. And the paradox of modern censorship is that it draws attraction to the entity being censored. So, experientially, the satellite does not travel crossed arsenic a censored world, arsenic overmuch arsenic a censorious world, adjacent though forms of societal power run and immoderate individuals whitethorn wage a dense price.

The rhetoric of checks and balances and “institutions successful danger” has a akin effect. The Right has convinced important parts of the electorate that these checks and balances were not really protectors of liberty oregon people’s interests. Instead, they were structures devised by aged elites to thwart the powerfulness of the people; old, often corrupt, oligarchies oregon undemocratic intelligence vanguards utilized them to workout powerfulness implicit the people. These checks and balances and procedures were not protecting democracy, they were subverting it. So, successful fact, giving them abbreviated shrift is empowering existent democracy.

That this critique is fractional plausible tells you thing astir some the aged elites and astir modern democracy. Modern ideology relies connected law protections similar idiosyncratic rights. But modern ideology besides promises practice and agency. The committedness of practice is not the part of powerfulness based connected immoderate pre-existing taste oregon societal cleavage. It is, rather, the quality to nutrient recognition with a person oregon a party, that unusual alchemy by which a person becomes ours oregon the authorities becomes mine. Democracy is simply a tract successful which this recognition is produced, and those who bash it astir successfully are so speaking for the people. Electorally ascendant leaders similar Trump oregon Modi nutrient this identification.

The 2nd constituent is agency. A palmy radical does things together. They travel unneurotic successful a signifier wherever they tin beryllium said to workout corporate bureau arsenic a people. Socially, the radical are plural. Every nine has each kinds of groups successful it. But for the radical to beryllium capable to enactment to immoderate purpose, they indispensable person a modicum of unity, they indispensable get a will. They indispensable beryllium much than the sum of their parts. So called populist authoritarians committedness this consciousness of agency. They bash distant with checks and balances successful the sanction of empowering the bureau of the people. It is besides successful portion wherefore centrist and Left politics, which takes societal part to beryllium central, is failing. It is not that the Right volition not bash societal engineering: The BJP has been masterful astatine caste coalitions. But dissimilar the Centre and Left, it has not fto spell of the thought that India is much than a postulation of castes oregon regions. Somehow the benignant of authorities of organisation that Congress is playing with the caste census, oregon connected contention that the Democrats were seen to play, is identified arsenic disaggregative. It is seen arsenic disempowering the people, dissolving their volition into tons of small parts. The Right is walking distant with the recognition and bureau dimensions of democracy.

The bureau and recognition dimensions are genuine successful a democracy. But they besides incorporate its top dangers. It is often easier to make a consciousness of agreed agency, not connected agelong word diffuse goals similar improvement oregon adjacent nationalist power, but connected disposable enemies arsenic targets. Where is that “unity” manifest? In the Indian lawsuit astatine least, the BJP has concluded that it tin locomotion distant with the bureau magnitude by Hindutva. The information of a agreed consciousness of bureau and recognition is marginalising a peculiar number similar Muslims, oregon astatine slightest confining their powerfulness to constrictive limits. Or it tin necessitate perpetually inventing enemies of the federation that are retired to subvert it. In the US, authorities is much complicated. But what is communal to some is that the authorities of unity perpetually requires a show against immoderate target. The result successful India is dangerously communal, arsenic we are seeing successful UP.

But it is not wide that this occupation tin beryllium addressed by yelling “Democracy successful danger” erstwhile communalism is present the bureau magnitude of democracy. It volition person to beryllium addressed connected its ain terms. The question for the Opposition is this: While its critique of eroding checks and balances whitethorn person validity, it inactive needs to connection a conception of ideology that produces recognition and a consciousness of agency. It has to amusement what it tin bash with democracy. Simple restoration of presumption quo ante, ideology successful danger, oregon a authorities of smaller identities, is not going to chopped it.

The writer is contributing editor, The Indian Express