![]() Lines MatterK.K. Kailash FIXING ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES IN INDIA: LAWS, PROCESSES, OUTCOMES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR POLITICAL REPRESENTATION Edited by Mohd. Sanjeer Alam and K.C. Sivaramakrishnan Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2015, pp. ix 278, Rs. 850.00 VOLUME XL NUMBER 3 March 2016 Boundary lines between constituencies not only determine who
controls parliament or a legislative assembly but their functioning
as well. Fixing Electoral Boundaries in India is based
on the central idea that drawing constituency boundaries has serious
implications for both the practice of politics and the working of democracy.
This book underscores the point that demarcating constituencies
is not a routine ‘techno-bureaucratic’ exercise but involves ‘philosophical,
legal, political, technical and practical’ considerations (p. 3).
The volume highlights the central tension that all delimitation
bodies face, that of simultaneously fulfilling the requirements of two
fairness principles, namely that of numbers and groups. How can a
constituency be fair to the doctrine of ‘one person-one vote-one value’
and at the same time respect the identity and integrity of communities
and groups? Demarcating constituencies only on the principle
of representing numbers can hurt the interests of groups, who may
end up divided and cease to have an effective voice. At the same
time, being fair to group interests could on certain counts violate the
number principle. Many chapters return to this fundamental tension
that confronts delimitation exercises across the world.
Fixing Electoral Boundaries in India provides us a valuable commentary
on the politics and tensions surrounding the Fourth Delimitation
Commission (FDC). Since the inauguration of the Constitution,
the boundaries of India’s parliamentary and assembly constituencies
have been redrawn only four times. The book seems to
suggest delimitation on a more regular basis would not only prevent
vested interests from capturing the system but also enrich the practice
of representative democracy.
This book has twelve chapters besides an introduction. The final
two chapters make valuable methodological contributions and would
probably interest research scholars more than non-specialist readers.
While the collection is essentially about the Indian experience, Lisa
Handley’s comparative study of delimitation practices in India, United
Kingdom, United States and Canada is useful. Besides putting the
Indian experience in perspective, she also brings to the foreground
the point that the Indian practices have consistently violated the
principle of all votes having equal weight.
The volume reproduces a chapter ‘The Concept of Constituency’,
from Andrew Rehfeld’s highly original and much cited The
Concept of Constituency: Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy,
and Institutional Design published by Cambridge University Press.
Rehfeld underlines the fact that constituencies define the people in
a democracy, and the way constituencies are demarcated lies at the
heart of the theory of representative ... Table of Contents >> |