The Changing Role of Elected Representatives
How has the role of the elected representative evolved in India? Pranay Kotasthane looks the question in Missing in Action . The usual question worldover has been whether the representative is a delegate or a trustee of the people? What do the terms mean? “In the delegate model, the representative is a mere mouthpiece for the will of her constituents and has limited autonomy of her own.” On the other hand, a trustee is allowed to exercise her discretion, her judgment and her conscience in how she votes in Parliament. In most democracies, including India, representatives gradually became trustees. By the 80’s and 90’s, India found these representatives would be bought over, flip parties, and bring down governments. When this problem got out of hand, the anti-defection law was framed – representatives had to follow their party whips; if they didn’t, they would be disqualified. An unintended effect of this new law was that the representative didn’t couldn’t v...