In early 2021, Democrat Deb Holland becomes the first Native American cabinet secretary at the US Department of the Interior. This department, once infamous for facilitating genocide of Native Americans, now oversees 500 million acres of public lands as well as controlling the Bureau of Indian Affairs (responsible for the welfare of 1.9 million Native Americans) . History has, in some ways, come full circle, with a change in a department that was established to disenfranchise Native Americans.
to mainstream
On September 20, 2022, the United States House of Representatives saw the swearing in of Alaska Native Rep. Mary Peltola. Other democracies have offered space to individuals inspired by indigenous tribes and indigenous movements to emerge as leaders. In 2006, Hilaria Supa Huaman’s election to the Congress of Peru allowed her to openly criticize the effects of colonialism on native tribes in Peru and the Peruvian government’s program of forced sterilization of indigenous women, as well as indigenous peoples in the Andes. insisted on preserving the culture. Similarly, in Bolivia, Evo Morales, as the first indigenous president, was able to push for political autonomy for indigenous groups in their ancestral territories.
India notably has a female president who comes from a tribal community, even parliamentary committees are often lacking in representation, with less than 59.5% of all SC/ST legislators mainly on social justice represent on the committee. There are some political parties whose leadership includes SC/ST people. The anti-defection law (Fifty-second Amendment Act, 1985 with another amendment, the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act) should be reviewed as it prevents SC/ST MPs from speaking in Parliament, especially on issues Where the party stands is different from his personal preference. Opportunities to highlight injustices against their community are often rare, and are linked to a lottery system for Zero Hour Q&A time. The participation of the Scheduled Tribes remains largely symbolic.
Meanwhile, older democracies are increasingly encouraging female participation. In June 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley (10-term congressional incumbent for New York’s 14th Congressional District) in the Democratic Party primary elections before defeating her Republican opponent Anthony Pappas in November 2018. At age 29, she became the youngest woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives. In Finland, which has a median age of 43, and a below-replacement fertility rate), Sanna Marin became the youngest prime minister in 2019 at the age of 34. This was not a one-off, her coalition government was formed with five parties, all of which had women party leaders. In Finland, it has become normal to have women in powerful roles. Under Justin Trudeau, Canada has seen a cabinet that is 50% female. Meanwhile, in India, in the Gujarat elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress nominated only a handful of women candidates. We often hear about cross-party support for the Women’s Reservation Bill that seeks to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha for women. Still, the bill remains in limbo.
reaching youth
There are also some democracies that have laid emphasis on connecting with the youth. In Austria, in 2017, Sebastian Kurz was appointed chancellor at the age of 31. Italy saw Luigi DiMaio serving as Deputy Prime Minister at the age of 31 (2018–19). Tiffany Degoise of France, a law student, was elected to the French Parliament in 2017 at the age of 24. In 2013, and at the age of 29, Naisula Lesuda became the youngest ever Kenyan senator. In Spain, in 2015, Nagua Alba was elected to its parliament in 2015; Incidentally, she was also the first member of the Spanish Parliament of Arab origin. Meanwhile, between 1999 and 2019, the average age of Lok Sabha MPs was above 50, rising from 52 in 1999 to 59 in 2014—a slight decline since then. Most of the political parties are fielding aged candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. India is an increasingly aging democracy, which clearly represents the aspirations of its youth. Several policy measures can be evaluated to increase youth participation in politics; Examples include insisting on youth quotas on select seats, mandating internal party democracy, as well as insisting on proportional representation. And yet, the apathy persists, prompting one to ask why Indian citizens agree to it.
Long-established democracies have also created an encouraging environment in politics for atypical individuals with non-normative sexuality. Examples are Iceland (Johanna Sigurdardottir), Ireland (Leo Varadkar) and Belgium (Elio Di Rupo). In Africa, South Africa, Tunisia, and Mauritius have seen LGBTQ+ individuals being elected or nominated to positions such as a High Court judge, a provincial premier, or even the leader of a political party. There are examples in Asia as well (Sri Lankan Member of Parliament, Mangala Samaraweera and Governor Niluka Ekanayake. India has also taken small steps to ensure political representation for the LGBTQ+ community, examples being Shabnam Mausi and Madhu Bai Kinnar. But such cases . Few and far between, with atypical sexual or gender orientation is often considered a career stopper in politics. Systematic disinformation appears to be routine. In an ideal polity, LGBTQ issues would be dealt with by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, with the creation Employment support groups.
other countries provide avenues
Furthermore, most mature democracies also see a greater diversity of ideology, offering representation to different socio-economic groups such as trade unions and farmers. Libertarianism, a political philosophy that advocates economic independence and a small state with limited regulation, has many adherents in democracies (for example, the Reason Party in Australia, the New Party in Brazil, the Dawn of Liberty Party in South Korea, and the United Liberal Party in the States). Similarly, green politics has been adopted around the world (the Green Party in the US and Alliance 90/The Green in Germany are examples). Despite being the largest democracy, most Indian political parties are generally centre-left and populist – ideology not generally a divisive factor. The Republican Party of India, founded by BR Ambedkar in September 1956, has since shrunk. Meanwhile, while no less than 37.24% of Indian MPs claim to be “agriculturists”, only 7.15% list their occupation as “farmer”, raising the question of why so little attention is paid to issues related to Indian farmers. Why do parliamentary debates happen? Do we have enough political representation to represent different views (eg on coastal fishermen community, environmental issues etc.)?
Indian democracy seems to be stuck in a tough spot as the middle class and professionals are largely disconnected from politics. While other countries give way to politics to individuals from different backgrounds, Indian politics is still constrained by nepotism. We need to promote new experimentalism in politics with greater representation and views from all sections of society. Without an emphasis on greater diversity, India’s democracy will remain stunted.
Firoz Varun Gandhi is a three-time MP from the Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
In an earlier version, Democrat Deb Haaland was erroneously mentioned as a Republican. sorry for the error.