Is democracy overrated? Over half of Indians are fine with military rule, autocracy
Seventy years of democracy notwithstanding, Indians don't value the system much. Or so it seems according to a Pew Research Centre survey, which says over 55 per cent of its citizens are okay with an "autocracy", that is an undemocratic, authoritarian "rule of one person with absolute power", while more than half of its people, about 53 per cent, "want military rule in their country".
Another finding from the Pew survey says over 85 per cent trust the current national government of Narendra Modi. The report said: "In India, where the economy has grown on average by 6.9 per cent since 2012, 85 per cent (of people) trust their national government." The report, based on a survey of 38 countries on the issues of governance and trust, also added that 46 per cent of Indians "somewhat" trusted the government to do what was right.
The PTI report on the Pew Research survey says: "The sample size for the face-to-face survey conducted in India was 2,464. Carried out in eight languages, it involved adult population from Delhi and 15 of the 17 most populous states. The fieldwork was done between February 21 and March 10."
That one-fourth of Indians want a "strong leader", at least according to the Pew survey, isn't a trend in keeping with the global political fad. While the Pew report adds that nearly half of Russians (over 48 per cent), currently under the Vladimir Putin regime, back governance by a strong leader, that's more than double the global median, which is at 26 per cent, with most of the major European countries voting in favour of stronger democracy and not strong rulers.
Another trend that captures the current technocratic push of governments across the world, but particularly those in Asia, clubs India with two other countries that support a technocracy. "Asian-Pacific publics generally back rule by experts, particularly people in Vietnam (67 per cent), India (65 per cent) and the Philippines (62 per cent)," the report said.
This is in stark contrast with countries such as Australia in which citizens aren't overwhelmingly in support of technocracies and plutocracies of the elite and the experts. Fifty-seven per cent of Australians are wary of such tendencies in governance, the report.
The Pew survey also throws up interesting and glaring ironies in terms of what the respondents, particularly Indians, think about their country. The contradictions are way too stark in case of India because 53 per cent among the Indians (and 52 per cent among South Africans) consider their country as a regional democratic stronghold, while also supporting autocracy and/or military rule. Only 10 per cent of Europeans back military dictatorship, in contrast.
"But in these societies, older people (those aged 50 and older) are the least supportive of the army running the country, and they are the ones who either personally experienced the struggle to establish democratic rule or are the immediate descendants of those democratic pioneers," the report added.
Though, ultimately, democracy was favoured by most as the best way to govern nations, the support for "strong leaders" and their "autocratic" governments is certainly a cause for concern, particularly among Indians.
At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "strong" leadership is proving to be rather shaky on several key fronts - particularly the economy and socio-political fabric of the country - this tendency could be a pointer towards the future of India's immediate and distant future.
We need to ask ourselves if favouring a military rule, or autocracy, and trusting the government despite many indicators that there are many reasons to worry and distressingly so, are signs that the matrix of Indian collective conscious is itself undergoing some sort of transformation? After all, pro-regime commentators are openly declaring that "Modinomics will cull the weak and the unviable, leaving India stronger."
Moreover, the trend favouring military rule also coincides with the increased politicisation of the Army, and the constant embedding of the military in various political contexts. While the ultra-nationalism narrative makes the most of peddling militaristic viewpoints without actually supporting individual soldiers and whistleblowers within the Army establishment, conflating foreign policy issues and questions of national security and counter-terrorism with the telegenic jingoism of the present ruling dispensation has led to a "middle-class militarisation" of everyday life, consumed via TV debates and political speeches. The Pew Report clearly shows that people with less education (or more misinformation) tilt towards military rule.
Is this desire for a strong leadership at the expense of the democratic sentiment, welfare for all, affirmative action for the historically marginalised, food and wage security for the poorer sections, policies that would reduce the income inequality and not widen it further? Is this (hardly latent) desire for autocracy further evident in Indians accepting and normalising erstwhile "fringe Hindutva" figures such as Yogi Adityanath in crucial legislative and governance positions, such as donning the mantle of Uttar Pradesh chief minister?
An interesting finding from the Pew report was that those satisfied with the economic performances of their government and their country, were more likely to support democracy. Given the GDP nosediving from 7.9 per cent to 5.7 per cent in just one year, is this fascination with autocracy along expected lines? After all, "vikas" or the development plank, lies almost abandoned and hardline Hindutva seems to be the weapon of choice in the upcoming Assembly elections and the coterminous politicking in states such as Kerala and West Bengal.
Though the Pew Research has a very low sample size - just 2,464 face-to-face interactions - that doesn't take away from the alarming shifts in political trends. Is India suffering from a democracy fatigue?