government and governance

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 26-8-08(Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. Babu Ravindran. .
Coram: All nine members attended and participated in the discussions.
Subject: Government and Governance (Con’td)
Dr.Babu Ravindran: Governance simply means the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented. The word governance is derived from the Latin origin ‘gubernare’ that suggest the notion of ‘steering’.
A government is the apparatus through which a governing body functions and exercise authority. It is the authority to make laws, to adjudicate disputes, and to issue administrative decisions to ensure harmony in society.
The fundamental purpose of Government is the maintenance of basic security and public order without which individual cannot attempt to find happiness. The philosopher Thomas Hobbs figured that people, as rational animals, saw submission to a government dominated by a sovereign as preferable to anarchy. Politics is the process by which group of people make decisions that affect other’s lives. Politics consists of ‘social relation involving authority or power ‘, and refers to regulation of a political unit and to the methods and tactics to formulate and apply policy. The government is formed according to the group when policy is accepted by the majority.
The left-right politics originated during French Revolution, when those members of the National Assembly who opposed the monarchy sat on the left and those who supported it sat on the right. Broadly it can be said that the right wing is often linked to the moral and social conservation, law and order and religion, while the left wing is often linked with redistribution of wealth and resources to the poorer or less successful section of society. The right wing is more often linked to the idea of social equity, and the left to the idea of social equality.
Some of the earliest governments in history are that of Sumer (5200BC), Indus Valley civilization (3000BC), Ancient Egypt (3000Bc), Yellow river civilization of China (2000BC). When we examine the types of government, they are,
1. Anarchy - Absence or lack of governance,
2. Democracy - Rule by a government where people as a whole hold the power,
3. Despotism - Rule by a single leader who considers all his subjects as his slaves.
4. Dictatorship – Rule by an individual who has taken over or wields full powers over the country.
5. Monarchy - Rule by an individual who inherited the role and is expected to bequeath it to his heir.
6. Oligarchy - Rule by a small group of people who share similar interests or by a group of family relatives.
7. Plutocracy - A Govt. composed of the wealthy class.
8. Theocracy – Rule by religious elites.
We have also seen that some countries have hybrid form of government like, for example,
Iran – a combination of democratic and theocratic institutions.
Netherlands – with monarchy and democracy.
The role of a Government includes, Military defense, Economic security, Social Security, and environmental security
Democracy is a system of government by which political sovereignty is retained by the people and exercised directly by the citizen. In modern times it has been used to refer to constitutional republic where the people have their voice though their elected representatives. The word democracy is derived from the Greek word demokratia, meaning ‘popular government’. Demos means people and kratos means rule or strength.
There are two principles that any definition of democracy should include. The first is that all members of the society have equal access to power and the second is that all members enjoy universally recognized freedom and liberty.
Democracy has its origin in Greece. However other cultures have significantly contributed to the evolution of democracy, such as ancient Rome, Europe and America. Democracy has been called ‘the last form of government’, and currently there are 123 countries that are democratic.
In parliamentary democracy there are legislature, executive, and judiciary which are complementary to each other and independent to some extent. Legislature is to form laws, executive for implementing it, and judiciary to see that every thing is done in order according to Law. Police, Revenue, Health etc. are various wings of execution. For the effective functioning of all, it requires honesty and integrity to be maintained.
From time immemorial philosophers have attempted to comment about Governance, Politics, and Government, e.g., Confucius (551 – 471BC), Plato (428-348BC), Aristotle (384 – 322BC), Thomas Hobbs(1611), John Lock, John Stuart Mill (19th century), and Karl Marx. Confucius said that Rulers should learn self- discipline, should govern his subjects by his own examples, and should treat them with love and concern. He links politics to a great extent to personal ethics and morality. In the epic Ramayana, Lord Rama has been depicted as the solid example of good governance. He had shown how a king or Ruler should live for his subjects.
In this background it will be interesting to analyze the Govt., Politicians, and Governance of our present time. Appeasement politics has become the order of the day. According to the democratic ideals of participatory governance, good governance is where no one ruled and no one is ruled over. Now political executions fall under the sway of influential groups. Those with money, political clout, caste supremacy, and communal support continued to call the shots. Others, the poor, the honest, and the down trodden are dumped in no man’s land. The bureaucracy, the only constant factor in the ever changing democracy remains pliant, to unquestioningly toe the line of their political masters. Instead of anchoring the political executive in constitutional values, it played along with the whims of politicians.
Since honesty was looked down upon and complicity rewarded, there was enough incentive for the bureaucracy to turn a blind eye to the shenanigans of political executives.
And of late what have we witnessed on 22nd of July 2008 – the day of Trust Voting in Indian Parliament? The cynical horse trading of MPs and the display of bundles of currency notes showed us to what low level our democracy can sink. These highlight that democracy involves a lot of money and there is a close interplay between money power and political power. And we also notice that criminals are elected as MPs, and criminal Members of Parliament were released from jail to participate in the voting.
Independent police is a forgotten entity. There is no proper maintenance of roads. Supply of electricity and drinking water are erratic or non-existent, and waste management is not considered at all. While smoking is banned, political prisoners in the jail are given special sanction to smoke beedis in prison. To top it all one is surprised to see government sponsored harthals and bandhs!
Arrogance everywhere is the order of the day. Courtesy and concern for others, the society seems to have forgotten.
It reminds me of an interview late Rajiv Gandhi had with JNU students. When the students were asked what they wanted to become, there was none to opt for politics. He asked why, when politicians are ruling the country why nobody wanted to become a politician? They answered they hate politics, and politicians are dishonest, corrupt and criminally minded. He explained to them, ‘when you people are not opting for politics, the corrupt and criminals will have an easy walk over others, and you will be ruled by them’. I feel that educated and intellectual youth should enter politics and clean it up for future good governance.
Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan: And, in the process they may get killed instead of politics getting cleaned.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Theoretically correct. It is a vicious circle when politics is controlled by musclemen.
Dr.Babu Ravindran: Youngsters should be motivated to take up the challenge to save politics.
Prof. Sankarankutty: As it is, arrogance is the quality required to be a politician, and daring to commit crime is qualification enough.
Dr. Thomas: Governance in India had been as per the prescription in the great epics, and some of the ancient texts and scriptures, where the methods and conventions of good rule are elaborated. Dynastic rule was prevalent till the Moguls came. Theocracy was followed in their rule, but it got watered down when benevolent kings deliberately took Hindu wives and diluted the theocratic practices. Peace prevailed for quite some time making it possible for art and philosophy to flourish.
As regards Kerala, Travancore and Cochin remained princely states ruled by kings even when the British ruled the country. They were fairly well administered. One other state that was well ruled was Baroda. Europeans actually wanted trade and for that purpose peace also. Finally the British won and exercised power over the kings. Residents were appointed to collect taxes. The kings were not powerful enough to resist the mighty British. Swathi Thirunal of Travancore who tried to confront Col.Munroe, finally died of depression. But he was the king who made his subjects learn English. The kings were benevolent and good administrators. Highly learned and efficient Diwans ruled for the king. The two states were ruled by the kings for over twenty-five to thirty years. Because of this long duration a sort of continuity became possible and permanent structures, institutions, and establishments could be built in the two states. Main income was from rice. A sort of barter system prevailed then in the sense that even wages were given in quantities of rice. The hierarchy was, village officer, Adhikari, Peshkar, Diwan Peshkar, and then the King. Whatever happened in the state, the King was never blamed or considered to be responsible. He was above reproach. Responsibility was with the Diwan. The last Diwan, C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer, although extra efficient, turned out to be very cruel, siding the British in the freedom struggle. He was ‘dethroned’ and thrown out by the idealist people of the state under the leadership of people like Pattom Thanu Pillai.
In India, Javaharlal Nehru was a great leader and administrator. He belonged to an aristocratic family and had great financial backing. He had British education. He lived at the time of great happenings in the world like the world wars and Chinese civil war. He could become an international politician. Mahatma Gandhi also had financial support of his own. Indira Gandhi was lucky to have a good background. But yet she was democratically ousted at the later stages. Deve Goeda had only some local clout in a particular area of the country. Yet he became Prime Minister due to some peculiar circumstances. In the national stage, it is difficult for people to accept local chieftains. Therefore he could never come back again. Rajiv Gandhi became PM too early and also got killed too early. In Kerala at present we lack people of some maturity to be leaders and to govern. The left is divided. There are divided opinions everywhere. Confusion prevails. But confusion protects also in the sense that no body can do harm by themselves alone. From the confusions something good may emerge. Society gets new concepts from the chaos. Kerala is a governing crucible in which different ideas are interacting.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Things have changed. People shout at police now. And the policemen are helpless. Jobs are not available. Even small jobs like weaving straw mats, and bamboo baskets have been usurped by the plastic industry.
Dr. Thomas: Only elections are looked forward to and to nothing else by those who are entrusted to govern. Citizens get killed in the process of vote catching.

Dr.Babu Ravindran: The bureaucracy is also to some extent responsible.
There is an interesting article in to-day’s Indian express titled ‘When callousness Rules’ by Seema Musthafa, a political commentator. Among other things the author points out how our citizens behave now. To quote, “Take the people on the road. They litter, they pee, they drive like maniacs, they abuse each other, they shout at cops, they break all conceivable laws, they pay bribes when checked, and they show scant consideration for the ‘other’ on the street”. It highlights almost all the ills that our country is afflicted by. The article is very much relevant to our discussion here, and suggests that perhaps the solution lies in bringing about a change of the mindset apart from providing for practical measures.
(Dr. Babu Ravindran then read out the article.)