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Despite Free and Fair Elections, Our Idea of the Republic Is at Risk

Venkat, Vidya

Authors

Vidya Venkat



Abstract

On the occasion of India’s 70th Republic Day, it is worth considering how the very foundational idea of a republic, in which supreme power is held by the people, is at risk despite free and fair elections. To arrive at that argument, this article delineates the historical trajectory of India’s Right to Information movement as arising out of the need to address the unfinished agenda of democratisation since independence. It then discusses how the movement has strengthened oppositional politics by expanding the terrain for political participation and has also empowered individual citizens in their struggles to claim their entitlements from the state. By resisting scrutiny under the Right to Information Act and attempting to dilute the law’s empowering potential, political representatives and bureaucrats are subverting democracy itself.

Citation

Venkat, V. (2019). Despite Free and Fair Elections, Our Idea of the Republic Is at Risk. Economic and political weekly, 54(3),

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 11, 2019
Online Publication Date Jan 23, 2019
Publication Date Jan 23, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 28, 2019
Journal Economic and Political Weekly
Print ISSN 0012-9976
Electronic ISSN 2349-8846
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 54
Issue 3
Keywords democracy, right to information, bureaucracy
Publisher URL https://www.epw.in/engage/article/despite-free-and-fair-elections-our-idea-of-republic-is-at-risk