On Studying Elections and Democracy

Abstract

This conversation between R. Thirunavukkarasu and T.K. Oommen underscores the sociological significance of analysing electoral democracy. Electoral studies pre-supposes democracy which is a recent phenomenon; as recent as 2000, only 58 per cent of the world’s population had electoral democracies. These factors explain the rickety level of election studies in sociology. In West European countries, wherein democracy flourishes the co-terminality between political and cultural boundaries is either a fact or an ideal. However, in India cultural pluralism is both a fact and a valued goal. The three-tier Indian polity—local, provincial (linguistic states), and national—witnesses different behaviours. Along with factors such as class, gender, age, and rural–urban differences which are common to democracies, the specificity of caste is important in India. In addition to the horizontal factors, caste divides voters vertically and the intersectionality among these factors increases the complexity of democracy and electoral behaviour. The conversation also discusses the forthcoming 2019 general election.