Since the founding of the republic, India has been the largest democracy in the world. In many respects it was considered a model democracy owing to its ideals, such as a non-partisan Election Commission and free dialogue and debate. Its abiding features have been non-discriminatory management of diversity, concern for an equitable and equal society, and a profound reverence towards the country's founding document, the Constitution.
Over the years, the tussle between historical reality and theoretical idealism ensured that at times the social contract was disrupted, with conflicts obstructing a complete achievement of democracy.
In India's Experiment with Democracy, former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi examines key questions that face India today: What foundational principles must be definitive to our ideas of nationhood, citizenship and democracy? How may we enliven our national discourse with a renewed spirit of inquiry and imaginative erudition, and mid-course correction? Ultimately, the underlying thrust of this book is to posit reasoned argumentation, objective enquiry, secularism, civil liberty and compassion as indispensable features of a democracy.
About the Author
S.Y. Quraishi joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1971 and rose to become the seventeenth chief election commissioner of India. He introduced a number of electoral reforms, such as the creation of a voter education division, expenditure monitoring division, the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, and launched the National Voters Day. In October 2017, he was appointed ambassador of democracy by International IDEA (Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance), Stockholm, of which he is a board member. He is the author of An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election (2014), The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India (2021), and has edited The Great March of Democracy: Seven Decades of India's Elections (2019).
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