A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY

POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT SUBMISSION

SUBMITTED TO :
Dr. RAMESH KANNEGANTI
(LECTURER)

SUBMITTED BY :
GAUTAMSWARUP
I SEMESTER I YEAR
(B.A. LL.B HONS.)

-NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW-

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION___________________________________________________________1

NEED FOR INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY_____________________________________2

A. MULTIPARTY SYSTEMS__________________________________________________2
B. POLITICAL PARTIES REPRESENT THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE
POLITICAL WILL OF THE PEOPLE__________________________________________2
C. THE CONCEPT OF MERITOCRACY______________________________________2
D. SETTING THE NORMS OF SOCIAL CONDUCT_____________________________3
A. PARTY COMMITTEE AND THE SELECTION OF A LEADER_________________4
B. IDEOLOGY AND POLICY FORMATION___________________________________4
C. IDENTIFICATION OF CANDIDATES______________________________________5
D. TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION MAKING_________________________________5
E. SCIENTIFIC MINDEDNESS OF THE MEMBERS____________________________5

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR INNER PARTY

DEMOCRACY______________________________________________________________6

CONCLUSION_____________________________________________________________9

BIBLIOGRAPHY__________________________________________________________III

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 INTRODUCTION

Inner Party Democracy connotes the democratic functioning of parties.

True democracies demand that people be involved in decision making at all levels of
decision making of which they are stake holders; this demand calls for Inner party
Democracy. Political party functioning in our society is based on an autocratic
system where the senior, more influential leaders of a party dictate its terms and are
the authorities on decision making; it has seen to result in a corrupted governmental
function that eliminates vital issues such as accountability, safeguard and prime
importance of civil rights and legitimate criticism of the actions of the government.
Inner Party Democracy seeks to resolve this.1

No concrete definition of this term is possible.2 A wide and proper definition is that
all stakeholders have a say in party functioning and that the party functions as per
true democratic principles of state practice. Inner Party Democracy is a very
flexible term and its scope and method of appropriation depends on the prevailing
system. This paper will seek to provide and enshrine the basic principles of the term
and will try to expose the nuances of the existing system; it will seek to explore the
merits and demerits of the Inner Party Democracy and critique upon how it shall
benefit our society.

For the purpose of this submission, the scholar would like to divide this paper into 5
major components:
1. Need for Inner Party Democracy
2. Elements of Inner Part Democracy
3. Constitutional or Legal provisions for Inner Party Democracy
4. Leadership in an Inner Party Democracy
5. Conclusion

1
See Naom Chomsky, Failed States: Abuse of Power in A Democracy, 1st ed. (2006), p.13: The
author seeks to establish the failed state of affairs in the so called Successful Democracies by
illustrating its true functioning. The author speaks about the same in the context of the United States of
America; he explains how power constraints are still along lines contradictory to the essence of a
Democracy.
2
See Anthony Giddens, The Third Way: Renewal Of Social Democracy, 1st ed. (1996), p.63
 NEED FOR INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY

True democracy can function only if such democracy exists in all levels of the system.
The need for Inner Party Democracy arises from this idea that the major features of a
democracy such as transparency, accountability, inclusion, strengthening of the civil
society etc. are maintained.

As a common man, the scholar would like to see the system that he is governed by to
function properly. Inner Party Democracy ensures that such features are preserved.
Three major reasons however shall be given in support of the scholars argument that
Inner Party Democracy is of supreme importance in the civil society.

A. MULTIPARTY SYSTEMS
Multiparty competitive systems deem that parties are a key to and a major factor of
political power. All political parties, in attainment as well as exercise of power, must
be adequately democratic; Only then can the political process of making and running
a government be truly democratic.

B. POLITICAL PARTIES REPRESENT THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE

POLITICAL WILL OF THE PEOPLE3
For the above stated reason, the process of will formation and mobilisation of action
for the good of the people must follow the fundamentals of democratic functioning; In
the absence of this, the political culture of militancy and authoritarianism set in which
are undesirable for obvious reasons.

C. THE CONCEPT OF MERITOCRACY

It is an established fact that democracy does not function automatically; while this
principle is clearly laid down in the Constitution, it does finally come down to the
competence of the citizens and thus the parties key factor of functioning. Charisma,
vision, skill and commitment of the leaders is what the leadership should demand.
This can happen only through democratic functioning.

D. SETTING THE NORMS OF SOCIAL CONDUCT

3
See Richard A. Posner, Law Pragmatism and Democracy, 1st ed. (2003), p. 98
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Political parties are the only links that connect the people to the government. The
represent therefore, the true functioning; Their ,mode /method of functioning will in
turn also affect the functioning of other manifestations of peoples political will.

In the functioning of parties, the factor of inclusion has largely been left out of many
debates. This scholar considers it immensely important.

The bases of inclusion are: ethnicity, gender, religion, social backwardness, etc. As
far as a democratically functioning society is concerned, the factor assumes special
importance as democracy will open opportunities and incentives for the party
members to raise and discuss many social issues; consequently, such issues will
assume greater importance in preparation of political action.4 Since it is necessary
that such issues play a pivotal role in the government, Inner Party Democracy comes
as an automatic and essential corollary.

4
Khagendra Prasad, Democratisation of Political Parties, Paper on the related aspects of Inner
Party Democracy
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 MAJOR ELEMENTS OF INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY

This section is included by the scholar to prove that if Inner Party Democracy is of
supreme importance, then its method, content and process are of prime concern as
well.

The principle measures to be discussed under this head are as follows:

A. PARTY COMMITTEE AND THE SELECTION OF A LEADER

All levels of committee constitution and executive positions must necessarily be
formed through the process of elections. There must be provisions of accountability
where in decisions of the leader may be questioned or discussed; their actions must be
liable to legitimate criticism and judgement.

Periodic meetings and recalls are effective instruments of this. This makes the marty
functioning more professional in its outlook.

B. IDEOLOGY AND POLICY FORMATION

Thoroughly informed and qualitative participation of the maximum members must
help form ideology and policy of the party.

If party policy does not represent the thinking of the majority of its individuals , its
policies will, in the long run be rendered ineffective. Here the scholar would like to
point out the nuances and the relevance of the concept of majority.

The term majority is defined by the Websters Dictionary as proposing a number

greater than 50%. The significance of the term however, is twofold. Firstly, the fact
that more than 50
5 of the people agree on a certain issue as opposed to a minority is the fairest way to
go against the minority will. Secondly, and far more importantly, a majority
represents a physically stronger team. The fact that they are greater in number
overrules the will of the minority; their will in such cases is insignificant and they
basically do not have a choice.

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For the purpose of policy formation in a party, Open Discussion and Deliberation
are two things that must be kept in mind.

C. IDENTIFICATION OF CANDIDATES
Selection of party candidates has been seen to be more a factor of authoritative
members or the party high command or central committee. Such functioning is prima
facie undemocratic functioning and demands criticism.

Two major instruments to solve this are primary elections and a democratically
formed party committees.
The United States of America is the best example of primary elections and deserves
applaud. The scholar would like to fleetingly mention the system followed in China
at a later stage of this submission.

D. TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION MAKING

The entire partys decisions and decision making process must be made known, not
only to the members, but to all the people; this is because transparency in decision
making processes is the major tool for judging the mertis and demerits of party
functioning.

This seeks to serve two major purposes. Firstly, it gives members a platform to study
the party leadership. Secondly, it provides a platform to potential leaders for the
same; and lastly it makes a party public in the true sense.

E. SCIENTIFIC MINDEDNESS OF THE MEMBERS5

Democratisation of a party also demands a specific state of mind from the party
members. Such a state of mind has to be developed.

1. Inquisitiveness of members
2. Open-mindedness
3. Critical Mind

5
Don McKinsley, Introduction to Psychology, 3rd ed. (2003), p.231.
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 CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR INNER
PARTY DEMOCRACY

All parties must be governed by fundamental democratic principles. While some

people contend that this must be an entirely internal issue, the scholar believes that
democratic functioning must be subject to external regulation. The major reasons
cited in support of this argument are:6

A. All business, relation or interaction in parties must be governed by the

fundamentals of democracy; therefore, constitutional regulation is equally
attracted in a political party as the generalia.
B. The decisions and activities of parties are of public concern and thus not
private matters.
C. In a democratic system, no institution must be above the constitution; parties
must be subject to constitutional regulations and constitutional methods of
functioning.

In Germany, provisions of political parties have been defined in Basic Law, Article
21(c) which requires
internal organisation in conformity with democratic principles.7

In Spain8, Article 6 of the Constitution requires the same

Similarly Article 51(5) in the Portugese Constitution 9 and the Finnish Act on
Political Parties prescribes that internal structure and management of political
parties must be democratic.

6
See Robert A. Dahl, On Democracy, 1st ed. (1998), p. 224 : The author describes these reasons in
detail explaining the vital merits of Constitutional regulation of Inner Party Democracy.
7
http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/parliament/function/germanlaw.pdf, last visited on 20-09-2008 at
4:30 p.m. IST
8
http://www.servat.unibe .ch/law/icl/sp00000_html, last visited on 20-09-2008 at 4:30 p.m. IST
9
http://www. Parliamento.pt/ingles_cons_leg/crp_ing/index.html, last visited on 20-09-2008 at 4:30
p.m. IST

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The scholars argument is that the Constitution of India too must provide for such
safeguards and legal provisions to ensure democratic functioning of parties. In
retrospection, the negatives of such a system would be hard to find.

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 DEMOCRATIC v. UNDEMOCRATIC FUNCTIONING

It is the opinion of the scholar that the demands from a leader in a democracy follow a
different. Such leadership demands a democratic thought, behaviour and work style.
The fundamental differences that lead to this are as follows:

Explanation and wider discussion are made use of by a democratic leader to make and
establish decisions vis--vis command and force used by an undemocratic one.
Greater participation is encouraged and opinions and suggestions are seriously
considered. While a democratic leader generates or synthesises opinion, an
undemocratic leader imposes them upon citizens.

Reciprocal and egalitarian relationships are developed between members of the party
under a democratic leader. The autocratic leader however, maintains one-sided
relations based on inequality. While the former regards other members as co-workers,
the later treats them as subordinates.

Planning and action are made public without hiding anything by a democratic leader;
in contradiction to which, an undemocratic leader uses secret, clandestine and
conspiracy.

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 CONCLUSION

It is submitted by the scholar that Inner Party Democracy must be treated as the
quintessential of the growth, evolution and perfection of democracies in their entirety.

Our country sees an absence of such functioning at the party level. The major parties
of the country follow an undemocratic system of authoritarianism and command.
While the BJP and the Congress leaders have at times displayed certain traits to
implement the same, the absence of a set of norms governing such functioning shows
large gaps in the current system of our democracy.

Rahul Gandhi has on several occasions hinted a shift in Congress functioning towards
such a system; concrete steps however, are yet to be seen. 10 The congress party
founded in 1985 on the lines of trust in the authoritarian members of the party,
provided they delivered results has undergone changes with the coming of various
party leaders. The partys functioning though is largely undemocratic.

Inner party democracy takes many forms and can manifest itself in diverse ways.
The ultimate objective is to be as inclusive and representative as possible, keeping in
mind the inherent propensities of party functionaries to filter information as it moves
upwards. Therefore the first stage is in the selection of party functionaries, where
some element of democratic functioning is necessary, if the next stage of distribution
of party tickets for elections is not to be totally rigged. Parties can also introduce
gender sensitivity in their organisational structures without waiting for any
legislation mandating quotas. Finally, the representation of all the three levels of
what is after all a multilevel federal system is of the utmost importance if
democratisation is to take root in the polity.11

10
See Balvir Arora, Can Democracy Flourish With Undemocratic Parties,
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070815/independence/main3.htm, As accessed on 21-
09-2008: The author in the course of this article seeks to analyse the Indian scenario on
Inner Party Democracy and helps the reader understand the merits of its existence.
11
Ibid.
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Newer generations of volunteers are however, showing a willingness to place a
premium upon meritocracy and pay heed to the voices of all stakeholders in party
functioning.
A good example of Inner Party Democracy is the BSP which is recruiting a large
number of volunteers from all sections of the society enshrining all the elements
mentioned.

Countries like the USA and nations of the European Union have provisions in party
policy and the Constitution itself to ensure democratic functioning at the party level.
The concept of preliminaries in the United States gives the people a say in the
selection of the candidate for the Presidential Elections in the country. Similarly
countries of the European Union have provisions in their Constitutions to facilitate
democratic functioning of parties.

Our country too sees the need of such a system; adding to the importance of this need
is the culture of secularism and the existence of varied communities that necessitate
inclusion and wider participation. The prevailing system does not promote the
interests of the larger population and hence needs to change. Inner Party Democracy
represents that change.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Naom Chomsky, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on
Democracy, 1st ed. (2006), Metropolitan Books, New York

Naom Chomsky, Deterring Democracy, 1st ed. (1991), Verso Publications, London

Anthony Giddens, The Third Way: The renewal Of Social Democracy, 1st ed.
(1998), Polity Press, London

Robert A. Dahl, On Democracy, 1st ed. (1998), Yale University Press, Yale

Charles Tilly, Democracy, 1st ed. (1996), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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