HOW PEOPLE VOTE? : Civic Literacy and Political Participation

How people vote in a liberal, open, competitive democracy is a big question in two senses. First, as Indian voters make up one-sixth of the world’s total electorate, their voting behavior considerably matters to the future of representative democracy everywhere. Second, as India faces so many challenges to its social, ideological and political cohesion, what people think about voting is significant to how India will evolve in the future.
Political participation is central to the democratic system and civic literacy plays an instrumental role in it. This volume examines the impact of civic literacy on political participation, by studying voting behaviour in local, assembly and parliament elections in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of Gujarat. The conclusions are drawn from what people said and what was observed on the ground, combining booth-wise analysis of votes polled with indices of civic awareness and political participation.
The main questions addressed are: (i) what is the level of civic literacy and political participation of the citizens? (Ii) How to measure civic literacy and political participation? (iii) What are the variables influencing civic literacy and political participation? (iv) How are civic literacy and political participation linked? (v) To what extent individuals vote as individuals, transcending caste and creed? (vi) To what extent has Indian democracy matured in terms of electoral behaviour.
This book will interest students and teachers in social sciences, and all those engaged in citizenship education towards perfecting procedural and substantive democracy in India.

Lancy Lobo has a doctorate in sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He is currently the Director, Centre for Culture and Development, Vadodara. Earlier, he served as Director, Centre for Social Studies, Surat. He has conducted extensive studies on dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities in rural and urban Gujarat. He was an International Fellow at the Woodstock Centre, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. during 1999–2000. He has authored and co-authored and edited seventeen books.

Jayesh Shah is a consultant to the Centre for Culture and Development, Vadodara. He holds post-graduate diplomas in Industrial Relations, Labour Laws, Organizational Behaviour, Clinical Psychology and Computer Science. He has served as Chief Executive Officer in a leading international company for more than ten years. Earlier he worked as freelance Management Consultant for more than ten years in Gujarat. He has conducted extensive studies on labour, employment and industry. He has authored many articles in professional journals, co-authored and edited eight books.