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Comparative Politics and Government

Notes Critical Appraisal

It should be remembered that the system of representation has no workable alternative of its own.
The agencies of direct democracy like those of initiative and referendum (as operating in Switzerland)
may hardly serve the really desired purpose. Historical experiences show that the real value of these
agencies of direct participation is not as substantial as it seems to be on a theoretical plane. The device
of referendum as it has been adopted in some countries (like France and Australia) to over-ride a
decision of the legislature on a matter of great constitutional importance has not been as fruitful as it
is claimed to be. What is left for us is that the system of representation should be made as usefully
workable in the prevailing conditions of the country as possible. As Strong suggests: “Schemes of
electoral reform, whose object is to produce the best possible type of legislature, may therefore have
to sacrifice something of the ideal electorate. The reflection of the opinion of the electorate in the
legislature is only partially feasible and not always desirable. Any conceivable system of election is at
best an arbitary attempt to approximate to a correspondence between the electors and the elected
body. Government must, after all, be relative to the conditions of the society it governs, and account
must always be taken of the peculiarities of the people to which it in each case applies.”
Undeniable is the fact that the subject of representation has an importance of its own in the study of
modern democratic system. As such, the ‘responsiveness’ of the deputy needs its proper examination
in the light of social and economic conditions of the country. Besides, the proper role of a representative
should be examined in the context of different institutional and regional situations. Indeed, this subject
is so complex that it, according to Prof. R.B. Jain, embraces these significant aspects: (a) his role perception,
role expectation and role performance in different institutional contexts, (b) his socialisation process, (c)
his constituency linkages, (d) his relationship with other representatives and the emerging collective
behaviour, (e) his relationship with his own partymen in and outside the representative bodies, (f) his
support-bases, and (g) his individual, ideological, sociological and psychological make-up which in
actual reality compose his personal traits and condition his behaviour in the legislative bodies. Important
studies can be made in the sphere of comparative politics by keeping the above points in view.
The subject of ‘representativeness’ has not yet been properly discussed. It is also deplorable that the
representatives of the people have also done a lot to devalue their own position by showing indifference
to the norms of proper representation. Thus, Herman Finer regrets that “no particular profession or
training offers the royal road to the proper legislator, but that any one is eligible who has involved
immersion in the life of the society and has acquired rigorous reflection and the use of mind and his
assertion that the more ample the variety in the legislature, then the better.”
12.3 Political Participation of USA, UK, Russia, France and China

Participation in USA
Participation by Voting

Ordinary citizens can participate in a nation’s politics in various ways, but voting is widely regarded
as the most important. Indeed, some analysts argue that having regular, free, and competitive elections
for public office is the most important difference between democratic and nondemocratic systems.
Most political scientists believe that since voting in elections is the main way in which ordinary
citizens in all democracies actually participate in their nations’ governing processes, voting turnout—
the percentage of all the people eligible to vote who actually do so—is one of the most important
indicators of any democratic system’s health. Studies of voting turnout in the world’s democracies,
like that in Table 12.1, usually find that the turnout is lower in United States than in any other
democracy except Switzerland.
Not only does Table 12.1 show that the U.S. has the next-to-lowest average voting turnout in the
world, but it is also true that in U.S. presidential elections turnout has declined steadily since 1960,
with the worst showing being 49 percent in 1996 (turnout is generally even lower in midterm
congressional and state elections—it was 39 percent in 2002).

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