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Saving Democracy from Crony Capitalism

There could not have been a more appropriate timing for the above titled book to appear in the bookstands.

The democracy is at the crossroads. Populist leaders strut the stage in vainglory.

The regular template that we are witness to begins with a formal election victory based on false promises, misinformation and outright lies.

With his image boosted by a handmaiden media, the leader turns the government into an authoritarian regime that tends to control people, politics, the economy, institutions, civil society forums and the very mindset of masses through a carefully planned and wellorchestrated cenetralised propaganda machine that deploys hate and disinformation as primary tools.

A narrative is woven around it by referring to an enemy at the border and some fabricated enemies within, all coated with hyper-nationalism.

The leader distributes the huge contracts to his cronies in the industry; makes deals abroad; sells public assets; hands over forests, mines and hills to private individuals who can fill up the party coffers.

With media megaphone already at his beck and call, he carefully avoids an interactive communication, lest he has to face criticism that his sycophants never raise with him.

Needless to mention, this is a slippery slope to scale.

Author, the tech czar Sam Pitroda, who needs no introduction, says only 8% people of the world live in full democracies, that 38% live in flawed democracies and 18% in hybrid regimes.

Decline in voter turnout has become a global concern in the contemporary democracies. This is attributed to disillusionment with the system and cynicism.

“Why exercise the franchise when the outcome is already known” the people ask. 36% of the global population lives in authoritarian and dictatorial regimes with limited freedom and flexibility.

The world is being ripped of peace due to politics of polarization where media is manipulated to amplify lies, hate and misinformation. Democracy, he says, cannot be about blind eyes and sealed lips.

And it is not so with India alone. And how could one expect the people’s representatives to use their independent reasoning, where the system demands them to turn into ‘protectors of the party’s interests, not the peoples’.

A democracy that ensures the people their rights is predicated on three principles i.e., freedom, justice and inclusion.

In the light of the above definition of justice, it is easy to see that t h e backlog of over 50 million court cases pending in different courts of India is clearly a travesty of justice.

Delay in dispensation make the idea of justice meaningless. Democracy thrives on healthy polarization on issues of economy, class etc but what we are seeing in India is intense polarization and the sinking of public discourse to new lows, aided in large part by social media.

Even on global level, there are leaders who inflame the basic divisions in society.

Their stratagems include: Curbing of democratic processes; Undermining of the independence of democratic institutions; Undermining of civil society; Abuse of executive powers; Demonization and intimidation of political opponents; Creation of tech-fueled disruption and disinformation; and, Control of the media and their narratives.

Crony Capitalism

Rampant corruption is an essential corollary of high cost of election which leads to crony capitalism.

Big donors expect and extract their pound of flesh through favourable contracts, large purchases of their products, land deals and subsidies and concessions.

Deadwood in Indian Bureaucracy

Indian democracy rewards the spender rather than the savers. When Sam Pitroda was in the PMO, he was allowed to hire a 23-member staff team, while he needed just three.

Politician were vying with each other in putting their flunkies under him. There is a lot of deadwood in the Indian bureaucracy as if the government exists to fund survival of employees and disbursement of salaries.

Money power is turning out to be the most corrupting element for democracies. Lobbies promote corporate interests and sometimes interfere and influence the democratic process.

The military-industrial complex in the US is also a point of concern and has been a catalyst for conflicts and wars in places like Vietnam, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iraq and now Ukraine.

With nearly one trillion dollars in spending, the Pentagon now consumes more than half of the federal discretionary budget, with public health, environmental protection competing for what remains.

Ease-of-doing-business and opportunities to sell military hardware run contrary to the urges of democracy.

Western nations often tolerate erosion of democracy in