Election And Representation Class 11 Notes Political Science Chapter 3 - CBSE

Chapter : 3

What Are Election And Representation ?

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Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.
The final decision-making power must rest with those elected by the people.
There should be provision of free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.
Each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.
The government must rule within limits set by constitutional law and citizens’ rights.

Election System Of India

First Past the Post System

The entire country is divided into 543 constituencies;
Each constituency elects one representative;
The candidate who secures the highest number of votes in that constituency is declared elected which means he has secured more votes than all other candidates. This method is called First Past the Post (FPTP) system. This method is also called the Plurality System.
There is also a clear choice presented to the voters at the time of elections. This not only gives choice between parties but specific candidates also.

Proportional Representation

In this system each party gets the same proportion of seat according to the proportion of votes.
These can be of two types:
First type: the entire country is treated as one constituency.
- E.g. Israel and Netherlands
- Each party fills its quota of seats by their candidates in proportion to the votes received.
Second type: The country is divided into several multi members constituencies.
- E.g. Argentina and Portugal
- Each party prepares a list of candidates for each constituency. Party gets seats according to the share of votes.
- In India the Constitution prescribes the PR system for the election of President, Vice President, and for the election to the member of the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishads.

Reservation Of Constituencies

The Constitution provides for reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. To ensure their proper representation, a system of reservation
becomes necessary.

Chief Election Commissioner

CEC presides over the Election Commission, but does not have more powers than the other Election
Commissioners.
The CEC and the two Election Commissioners have equal powers to take all decisions relating to elections as a collective body and all decisions are made by a majority vote.
They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
They are appointed for a six year term or continue till the age of 65, whichever is earlier. The CEC can be removed before the expiry of the term by the President if both Houses of Parliament make such a
recommendation with a special majority.
The Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India.