Chapter Five - Parliaments and Elections

Summary

For most scholars, the first elections after regime change, the so-called founding elections, constitute the beginning of the consolidation phase, the end of which is more difficult to determine than for the other phases of transition (Merkel 1999). Democracy is fully consolidated, if — as Przeworski maintains — it has become “the only game in town” (Przeworski 1991, p. 26). However, when exactly this is the case is open to debate. Of analytical use in this respect is Pridham's suggestion to distinguish between “negative” and “positive” consolidation. Negative consolidation means the containment of anti-democratic veto groups, while positive consolidation refers to the deepening of democracy through fostering a broad-based civic culture and improving the effectiveness of democratic institutions (Pridham 1995). Inclusive parliaments foster both negative and positive consolidation. They facilitate negative consolidation by drawing veto forces into the electoral and parliamentary arena, by integrating them even after defeat at the polls, and by preventing them from obstructing parliamentary procedures. Legislatures facilitate positive consolidation if they perform their functions effectively, if they provide for a modicum of social justice, and, if as a result, they enhance the trust of the population in democracy and thus help to build a civic culture.

The chapters that follow will examine how parliaments contribute to consolidating or sustaining — in the case of India's older democracy — democratic order. Crucial in this respect are not only the founding elections, but elections in general. Elections constitute parliaments and determine their composition. They have, in consonance with the electoral system and the extent to which the societal cleavage structure has led to party-building, a great impact on the inclusiveness of a legislature and, hence, to a considerable degree a legislature's legitimacy. Electoral inclusiveness has several dimensions: it depends on the proportionality of the electoral system, that is, how votes are translated into seats, the spectrum of political parties represented in parliament, and the social profile of the legislators (Nohlen 1992, p. 296; Sartori 1994, p. ix; Croissant 2001a, p. 71).