Rule of the Majority

Democracy stands out as the widely accepted form of government among most of the nations for decades now mainly due to its cherished principle of rule of law. Presence of some checks and balances in the political system is a necessity to guard against any attempts by its leaders to tamper with it. It is indeed these checks and balances in the rule of the majority that provide for an opportunity for the people to control their leaders and to dethrone them without the need for any revolution. These checks and balances come mainly, apart from the judiciary, in the form of the opposition party or parties in the representative democracies. As such, the opposition is one of the prerequisites for a healthy democracy in any country.

In the background of historical evidence that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the opposition is but indispensable to pre-empt any attempts of the party in power to act against the will and interests of the people.

For an effective democracy, at least two political parties with comparable strength are required to avert the danger of “the tyranny of the majority”  looming large over the heads of the people. A united, strong, meaningful, committed, credible and responsible opposition is very much needed in a democracy to ensure that the elected government would perform “with minimum government and maximum governance” and be responsive and accountable without becoming arbitrary.

But the current scenario in India paints a grim picture in this regard as there is no strong opposition party.