A false high: On voter turnout data, SIR impact

There is a tendency in India to reduce democracy to the mere conduct of elections, and to confine political life to “political society” — that subset of the population actively engaged in setting policy and in mediating welfare delivery. This points to a democracy that falls short of a deliberative or deeply participative model, even in socio-economically better-off States such as Tamil Nadu (T.N.) and Kerala. Yet, elections are not a one-off event, and turnout remains a useful dipstick for the vibrancy of the democratic exercise, particularly in India where the poorer sections vote in large numbers. By that measure, the headline figures from T.N. and the first phase of the poll in West Bengal appear daunting and unprecedented.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Hindu.