Most perceptive quote on democracy… “Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve” – George Bernard Shaw. (Me: Better than the other one, ‘we get the government we deserve’. If in casteist India, democracy doesn’t work it is largely due to the myriad castes and sub-castes that are watertight compartments and claim superiority over the others and not only do they have nothing in common but also they mistrust, and opposed to, one another. For examples, the Iyers, one of the higher castes and one which I belong to, have several sub-sects or –castes and often marriage alliances are sought from within the same sect. A Presidential form of government would have done a little better because the top man would be directly elected by the people and will have a mandate to be in office for 5 years uninterrupted and can select his/her ministerial colleagues from experts in respective fields, unlike the Parliamentary form where the Prime Minister wouldn’t be in a position to withstand the pulls and pressures from within his party and from his coalition partners in the selection of his cabinet colleagues who could be – and who are – unfit or ill-suited for the job either because he is uneducated or he because he knows nothing about the portfolio s/he is allocated)
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 06:16:48 +0000
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