The story of democracy from around the world

There is just one thing that has been talked about this previous month and, most probably will continue to be talked about in the next couple of weeks as well.

The Indian General Elections 2014 has made its buzz and impression in news around the world. One of the star highlights has been the impressive number of Indians preparing to vote this time around – 815 million. Morgan Stanley's Ridham Desai declared this would be the "biggest election in world history!”

So what is the story of democracy from around the world? Are elections and democracy universal? The answer, I’m afraid is not a yes. Even though 80% of countries on this planet are democratic – there are still a handful of countries that are autocratic. 

Even the quality of many of these democracies remains deeply flawed. Only 15 percent can be described as "full democracies," with 31 percent counting as "authoritarian regimes." Another interesting fact about democracy is that the wealthiest countries tend to be democracies: outside the petro-states, the top 25 richest countries in the world (as ranked by the World Bank) are also fully established democracies.

It all began way back in the 1900; New Zealand was the only country with a government elected by all its adult citizens. By the end of the century, there were ostensibly 120 electoral democracies in place!

Here in India, the story of democracy will take a new turn when the new government will be decided next month based on the majority of votes from the current electoral process. For good or bad, only time will tell.

Hope each of you exercised your voting power this time around. Why? Read my post on the importance of voting here: http://sandeepsonisays.blogspot.in/2014/04/one-citizen-one-vote.html

Source for all the amazing facts and the picture in this blog: World Bank  

One Citizen, One Vote

They are here and there is no way you can miss them.

The Indian general elections 2014 are already being tagged as the ‘biggest elections’ in world history. There are some staggering figures that go with this mammoth activity for e.g. these also will be the longest and the most expensive general elections in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election will cost the exchequer INR 35 billion! 

The promotions for the two biggest political parties in India are not just hitting television and internet but the online and social space as well. Massive rallies and ground activations are in full swing.

The real question to be asked here is – how much are you as an individual being swayed by it to actually go and vote for the candidate of your choice?

We can never downplay the importance of voting – your future and the country’s future are directly affected with your decision. If you have an opinion which resonates with the thinking or views of a candidate, then it’s your moral obligation and duty to vote for that person and see through that your opinion gets a voice in the parliament. Voting also helps democracy to prevail and if you don’t make that decision to vote, then the chances increase of you getting ruled by by someone who wouldn't necessarily represent your opinions or have your interests at heart.

The reason to vote cannot be overstated. Here at Hero BPO, we have decided to give all the employees and the staff, whose shifts are in the morning and afternoon, an off on the day of the election. This would make sure that our employees go out and exercise their responsibility to vote as they should.

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato