Democracy & art of motorcycle maintanence- I

This post is rather late as a rejoinder to Rohit's post (which in turn was rejoined to my post) mostly because I wasn't sure how best to reply, not least because (in my opinion) Rohit missed the point. I hope this post will help in clarifying the topic.


Now since Rohit's post have multiple arguments, it will be best to address the main point first, which is Rohit is mistaken in defending democracy because the premise of my post wasn't to propose replacement of democracy with an alternative system of governance, rather it was to methodically analyze governance.

To better understand my point let's take a simple analogy of transportation.

Now transportation has a aim, to move person(s) and/or good(s) from point A to point B. There are various way to accomplish this. Example being car, motor-cycle, bullock cart, stoned cheetah etc. However, there also exist various constraints which must be observed, for example, time spent, cost incurred, safety, comfort, thrill etc. Our choice of transport will depend upon the constraints (or to be more precise weighted constraints with weight assigned to the constraints by us).

Now it is possible that there is an option so superior to others that it beats all the other options in every available criteria. However this is not true in most of real life scenarios, and there is some amount of trade off involved. If we continue with our analogy we can understand this. Of the options available if one chooses Car one will probably get a higher degree of comfort and safety, and depending on traffic, time advantage

On the other hand with a motorcycle one can minimize the cost incurred, additionally in case of traffic, there is also significant car advantage. Now assume that our weighted constraints are such that motorcycle is the best option for us.

Here comes the first point. We must keep in mind even though motorcycle is the best option there was a certain degree of trade off involved.

Similarly even if, under given circumstances, democracy is the best option available to us (on which Rohit and I agree), we must be aware that trade-offs are involved (which Rohit doesn't address or acknowledge. I will come with the specific trade-offs later).

Now back to our analogy even with motorcycle there are various options available. In order to further specify   our option, we may prefer to introduce a secondary set of constraints (which are not as important as the primary constraints). For example we may introduce terrain to refine our criteria. These secondary criteria, in many cases, can alter our preferences in drastic. For example if route is over hilly terrain our option may be limited to powerful bikes.

From this comes the second point. Even with a given option there may be variations which may effect the performance. This holds for democracy as well, there are several variations, not all of them suitable for India. For example I believe that Westminster form of government is unsuitable in case of India and that there must be a separation of executive and legislative .

Are these enough ? To answer let's go back to our motorcycle.Now even though the specifications and design meet our requirements, usage over a period of time tends to cause wear and tear which implies proper maintenance, and if required, repair.

Similarly to ensure democracy works and delivers, it must be supported by institutions, political to facilitate in broader deliberative and consultative process,as well as cultural to strengthen community in order to facilitate participatry democracy as well as reinforce co-operative ethos. Along with this a process for easy course correction through feedback must exist. I will be coming back to this later.


Now if you have persisted through this meandering post, the summary is while I agree with Rohit in that democracy is indeed best for India, where I diverge sharply not just from Rohit but also from overwhelming majority is I acknowledge the trade-offs and limitation of democracy and therefore realize the urgency of improving the present model of democracy. Further it frustrates me no end to see people remain oblivious of the urgency, complacent in their Neumanian ignorance.