JOIN USGovt, by design, is a brake, Government by the people is the accelerator
Every week, there is a new announcement from the national government or the state, with one scheme or another being inaugurated. Usually, along with the launch, there is a lot of promotion as well, and a lot of this is over the top. One would think that our history of poor governance over 75 years should moderate such advertising, but clearly, that doesn’t deter anyone. For our leaders, every ribbon they cut opens doors to a sure hit, and India is always ‘certain’ to become the world’s best at anything they promote.
The message that India is destined to become a great nation is not new. Nor is it surprising. India is a large country with a distinct culture, and therefore it is easy to imagine that the world stage would not be complete without our country on it. And once that’s fixed, it seems natural that everything that the government does should include a promise to help us get there quickly.
If it’s all so ordained, then why isn’t it happening? Why is it that in many global indices of development, India figures in the bottom half -- or third, even -- than in the top? And why is it that the promises have remained just that, even as different leaders come and go?
One reason is that the promises are only political, and there is no real intent to make them come true. But perhaps, that is too cynical. At least occasionally, we do get leaders who do want to push the nation onto a much faster path of development. Even then, however, we have to conclude from the evidence that we’re not quite getting there. Something else is holding us back.
Sometimes, when policy experts talk about the unwieldy structure of our governance institutions or the weak design of our public systems, people’s eyes glaze over. What do these terms mean? I find it useful to think of these like the functioning of a motor vehicle. Two of its parts in particular -- the accelerator and the brake. The steering wheel is important too, for direction, but the movement itself is determined by these two. While there are nuances to every example, this one works well to explain system design.
The next time you’re at the wheel, try this -- hold down the brake, and then rev up the accelerator. If everything works right, the vehicle should not move. Why? Because manufacturers, safety regulators and consumers all understand the greater risk that comes with movement. Although occasionally there could be situations where braking is the wrong choice, all things considered, it seems like more often, accelerating poses the greater risk.
Even governments are ‘designed’ in some way, except that design is not as apparent as that of a vehicle. And much like a car or a bike, in government too, the brakes have precedence over the accelerator. Democracies strive to incorporate checks and balances in their design, and these are in some ways restraints on runaway decision-making by a few people in power. It is said only half in jest that a lower division clerk in government can hold up a Prime Minister’s scheme. That’s by design.
One could argue that it should not be that way. What’s the point of a powerful leader rallying great public support to win elections and come to power if the checks on one’s authority are just as firm as before? But we have arrived at this through the collective wisdom of many nations’ histories of becoming free and self-governing. They have seen that power corrupts, and have decided that tempering it must be part of the design response. Democracy is a full automobile; it includes both accelerators and brakes, and both with good reason.
Once we understand that, the rest is a simple choice. Within the democratic system, there is a path that permits and encourages rapid development. If we choose that path, we’ll surely get closer to our social and economic goals much more quickly. But if we seek any other kind of acceleration, then inevitably, the brakes will kick in, sooner or later.
This democratic fast lane is not hard to find. It is made up of two principles, and both of these are written into our Constitution and the laws, and also a self-evident fact of all free societies. The first principle is that the State is not superior to the citizens, but is equal to them, created by them, and should serve them. We have inverted this, and find that the State now dominates the citizens, and even determines winners and losers in the market. Supporters of ruling parties think this is a feature of the accelerator, but from Nehru to 2021, there is plenty of evidence that it’s actually part of the brake.
The second principle is that governance must be close to the people. While national and state governments are important, local councils and district governance are also key, and only when these layers are also powerful will we get the whole system working together like the parts of a machine. By disempowering these layers, however, we have left out some parts of our democratic machine, and find that it is sputtering.
Government by the people is as important as the government of and for the people. And it is part of the design of liberal democracy. The day we embrace this, two things will happen -- leaders will make more credible promises, and those will be more likely to come true.
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