by Sandeep Pandey and Vishwas Bhamburkar The preamble to the Constitution begins with “We, the People”. Thus, the idea that the citizens are the sovereigns, should have been the pervasive thought flowing from the Constitution as viewed by all the powers that be. Is the citizen the sovereign? If she is not, isn’t the whole constitution a farce? And[Read More…]
An open letter to Mallikarjun Kharge jee and Rahul Gandhi jee: Dear Sirs, This process can be started with states, particularly from Karnataka, as they and you are mulling over naming the CM and other ministers. You can declare the whole Assembly to be the collective ruler of Karnataka, passing any and all bills with the majority. The same majority[Read More…]
I just love it when all the media political pundits and talk show hosts ( News Talk?) throw out that word Democracy. You don’t have to go to a ranch to find more bull excrement than that. Folks, this is not a democracy and probably never was one… all the way back to our founding. Why? MONEY MONEY MONEY is[Read More…]
Background Democracy, a form of people’s rule, requires great responsibility and commitment from the citizen and state. Democracy is an inclusive practice cemented on modern liberal ideals that brings peace & progress in society. The danger it carries equally great hope and aspirations and failing which revert back to conservative false promises. Unfortunately most of democratic political systems in the[Read More…]
Youth-led mass mobilisations in recent years have challenged the argument that young people have no interest in politics or democratic processes. Young people displayed a commitment to change and modelled an inclusive approach to participatory democracy through street actions, events, and debates as seen in the climate movement. Jasmine Lorenzini explains how young people challenge the norms of participation today,[Read More…]
The election of a Pradhan in a small village in UP The following account is almost verbatim from what was related to us in a close-group discussion[1]. Given the sensitivity of situation we will keep the protagonists and the various characters anonymous. Also, because there is nothing unique about this account; it is merely an example of what is probably[Read More…]
Authoritarianism’s Popular Base Inexorably linked to self-identity molded by the social environment, political identity, shaped by social class and the hegemonic culture, largely determines the individual’s participation in the political arena. Not the only factor that shapes political behavior, social mobility along with cultural conditioning is the catalyst to molding political identity. In the age of mass politics where bourgeois[Read More…]
Democracy is all about access to resources, rights, participation in decisions, freedom and the ability to pursue choice. Democracy the world over has been under threat, in recent times. In fact, in India, increasingly dilution of democratic processes can be traced to chronology of globalisation of Indian economy. There is a perspective wherein globalisation is aligned with the democracy. Globalisation[Read More…]
The incidence and frequency of major policy failures has been increasing in some of the major countries of the world , including the USA, UK, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, to mention only some of the more obvious examples. This has brought immense and avoidable distress to hundreds of millions of people, apart from inflicting other longer term[Read More…]
We know it’s fashionable to hypothesize that democracy is “dying” in the post-Cold War world. It’s true not only for some of the postcolonial democracies in the Third World, and some “new democracies” Eastern Europe, but of late, seemingly, it’s also true about the United States. I refer to the cover story of Foreign Affairs, “Is Democracy Dying? A Global Report”[Read More…]
So now we finally know why the Modi govt. has messed up the Farm Bills issue big time: it has advisors like Mr. Kant who no doubt firmly believe that a few more jackboots on peasant throats would have made them gladly swallow the legislation without any demur. And, for all we know, he’s the one who is[Read More…]
An Overview of Systems of Government. H.L. Mencken said the typical American voter was a boob and the system was booboisie. In order to understand the submission “ Democracy is a Function of Capitalism” one has to delve deep into Social, economic, and political evolution of human race and subject it to critical analysis. Let us start with a few[Read More…]
Too Much of Democracy has derailed our economic ‘growth’ says CEO of Niti Ayog, who once professed that ATMs will cease away in the coming years. A ‘devotee’ of Narendra Modi’s ‘digitalisation’ process, Amitabh Kant wanted government to get away from Schools, Colleges and Jails by handing them over to private sector. Now, he is disturbed with the ongoing farmers[Read More…]
“What is the robbing of the bank compared to the founding of a bank”…BERTOLT BRECHT November 2020 witnessed America affirming that it isn’t just its name that embodies unity but that it breathes the democratic ‘unity’ of the age. So far as we are told, it was a victory of conscience over everything that we consider evil (And the paternal[Read More…]
“The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy, and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it.” Edward Dowling Of late we have been seeing many articles lamenting the role of the Press and Media in today’s society and complaining how it is[Read More…]
We are living in the age of digital era when consumption of politics and political activities are become inevitable because we are all carrying a platform in shape of smartphones of having features of social media. These social media apps are nonetheless unlike a platform where almost all political parties have their representations more or less or in other sense,[Read More…]
As people battle with the deadly Coronavirus, the world is sleep walking into an authoritarian future to keep capitalism alive with the help of brute force. The parliamentary and presidential forms of democracies are running the government without effective oppositions. The majoritarian governments in USA, UK, Brazil, India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other countries are busy in bending inclusive,[Read More…]
If you think that democracy is about ‘government of the people by the people and for the people’, you are dead wrong, not these days. The way democracy has evolved in recent years in both developed as well as in developing countries, it has become more of a system that may be, just may be ‘of the people’ and to[Read More…]
In his book The Rise of Professional Society England since 1880, Harold Perkin wrote: “The 20th century has seen the dissolution of the concept of absolute property. It has been replaced by a contingent concept of property based on professional service, which has inserted a series of intermediated subinfeudated tenants or beneficiaries into the hierarchy of ownership. This system is[Read More…]
Democracy is a product of struggles and sacrifices of the working classes. The October revolution, French revolution in Europe and anti-colonial struggles in Africa, Asia and Americas shaped democracy. The struggles for freedom, equality and justice, anti-capitalist struggles, and people’s movements against war and terrorism, social and political movements for livelihoods have helped to deepen democratic practices all over the[Read More…]
0. Preface: Main thrust of this paper lies in justification of Proportional Representation (PR) for all segments of the society at all levels in all spheres of power on the basis of definition of democracy. In the political arena this (PR) can be achieved with the help of list-Proportional-Representation (list-PR) system of election. Initially the suggested changes will need to[Read More…]
Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are incompatible. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam, as such. Though, I admit, that there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake which is a serious logical fallacy. There[Read More…]
From Education to Incarceration 
Tunakataa! Saying ‘No’ to Capitalism and Imperialism in Kenya 
Rising Islamophobia and Communal Discord: An Alarming Trend in BJP-Ruled States 
Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price! 
USA’s Wars Took 12 Million Lives in The Last 25 Years 
US to send long-range ATACMS missile to Ukraine 
In Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan makes us an offer we can refuse 
Nijjar affair poses an existential dilemma 
On the Brink of Famine 
Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project 
“Making a thriller from grain” 
Key Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Likely To Collapse In 2025-2095 
Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs? 
The Nijjar Murder and Indian Government’s alleged “involvement”: Reactions and Reflections 
France Will Pull Out Its Diplomats And Military From Niger, Says Macron 
Imperial Footprints in Africa: The Dismal Role of AFRICOM 
Hunger in Africa has its roots in a History of Colonialism and Neo-colonialism 
The Climate March: Magnificent and Misdirected 
Imagining a Progressive Pentagon 
“Lost Voices of Fentanyl” Rally at the White House 
Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities 
Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency 
Mission to Free Assange: Australian Parliamentarians in Washington 
Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy 
Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya 
What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government 
Poona Pact: A Reappraisal 
Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low 
Criminal Justice And Freedom of Speech 
75,000 Climate Protesters Marched In New York With Demand To End Fossil Fuels 
On the Dark Side of the Moon.. 
Avoiding the War on Terror would have saved over 10 million lives at home and abroad 
The Angertainer Steps Down: Rupert Murdoch’s Non-Retirement 
Climate Emergency Update, September 2023 
My appeal to Meta’s Oversight Board: Palestinian political and resistance organizations & individuals are not “terrorists” as classified by Israel 
Artificial Intelligence: Profit Versus Freedom 
How Can We Understand the Passage of Time? 
Pre- and Post-Soviet Language Policy in the East-Baltic States 
Breadcrumb 
Three Indian Movies win TIFF 2023 Awards 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
