COURSE MANUAL

Law of Indian Democracy

Election Law, Policy and Procedure

Course Instructor: Satya Prateek

Fall 2020
(AY2020-21)

Elective
This document is prepared by the course instructor and contains basic information relevant to the
execution of the course. It is the official record for all intends and purposes as far the elective
course, _The Law of Indian Democracy, is concerned.

This course manual can be used as a general guide to the subject. However, the instructor can
modify, extend or supplement the course (without tampering its basic framework and objectives)
for the effective and efficient delivery of the course. The instructor will provide students with
reasons for such changes.

Part I

Course Title:
Course Code:
Course Duration: One Semester (15 Weeks)
No. of Credit Units: 4 Credits
Level:
Medium of Instruction: English
Pre-requisites: Foundation Course in Indian Politics, Basic Introduction to Indian Constitution
Equivalent Courses:
Cross-Listed Course: (Response to this question is mandatory): Yes
Part II

1. Course Description

Election Law may be comprehensively understood as the law of Indian Democracy. It is situated
at and shaped by the intersection of disciplines such as political science, public law, philosophy
and sociology. It encapsulates a comprehensive framework of ideas, rules and statutes that
structure and operationalize the practice of democratic and accountable government at different
levels in India. Election law provides an opportunity not merely for the doctrinal study of the routes
and practices through which political power is acquired and exercised, but also for critical
engagement with ideological precepts and commitments that underlie the exercise of politics.
Its wide canvas means that it embraces normative enquiries into meanings and modes of
representation as well policy debates over campaign finance, corruption and criminalization of
politics. Given that democratic politics is not autonomous of law, the study of election law and
practice is an important and exciting project that will shed interdisciplinary insight into the
mechanics of world’s largest democracy.

This seminar will offer a systematic exploration of the legal, political and social construction of
the Indian democracy. The course brings together a cluster of issues regulating the design of
democratic processes and institutions, and the seminar will employ a range of methods – historical,
comparative, philosophical, case law, statistical etc to explore conceptual issues in the theory and
practice of Indian democracy. Towards these ends, the seminar will be divided broadly into eight
units that will engage with contemporary debates on the meaning and methods of representation,
electoral design and politics in India, legal regulation of elections and their salience in shaping a
distinctive political culture. Beyond the historical and conceptual debates, this course will also
provide a forum for systematic study of the Representation of People Act, 1951, the primary
legislation governing elections in India, and also cover selected landmark cases in Indian
election law. Provisions relating to the establishment and registration of political parties,
delimitation of constituencies, assignment of party symbols, campaign finance and speech
regulation as well as disqualifications will form a crucial component of this course. Special
emphasis would be laid, towards the end of the course, in discussing a range of electoral and
political reforms required to make elections free, fair, representative and accountable. This
course is meant to deepen a student’s engagement with the theory and practice of elections and
make one more conversant with the debates that texture Indian politics.

2. Course Aims

This seminar aims to introduce the students to major intellectual frameworks, debates, case laws
and interpretations that texture the theory and practice of elections in India. While this is a course
tailored to the Indian context, it draws from and builds upon various global debates on democratic
design, representation and accountability. The course aims to make the student comprehensively
conversant with questions of law, policy and procedure affecting elections in India.
3. Teaching Methodology:
This is a reading and participation intensive course, and will follow the lecture-based method.
Mandatory readings have been prescribed for each units, along with additional perspectives and
provocations. Discussion questions will be circulated a week in advance of the readings scheduled
and the class discussion will shape around these questions.
4. Intended Learning Outcomes

Course Intended Learning Weightage Teaching and Learning Assessment

Outcomes in % Activities Tasks/
Activities
1. Conceptual and Critical 60 percent Lectures/discussion
Engagement with Major shaped around analytical- Response
Ideas and Debates Shaping contextual scholarship on Papers + Class
Indian Elections elections in India. Participation
+Take Home
2. Engagement with statutory 20 percent Detailed discussion of Case
and constitutional statutory architecture Discussions +
provisions governing affecting elections, Take Home
elections in India, with through landmark cases
special focus on and legislative provisions.
Representation of Peoples
Act, 1951.
3. Ability to understand and 20 percent Critical reflections on Class
interpret democratic and the state of Indian Participation +
electoral politics in India, democracy in general. Take Home
contextually, critically and Exam + Viva
comprehensively.

5. Grading of Student Achievement

To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 40% in the cumulative aspects of
coursework, e.g. internal assessments and final examination. End of semester examination will
carry 50 marks or 30 marks, as the case may be, out of which students have to obtain a
minimum of 30% to fulfil the requirement of passing the course.
Grade Sheet1

Percentage Grade Grade Grade Description

of Marks Value

80 and above O 8 Outstanding – Exceptional knowledge of the subject

matter, thorough understanding of issues; ability to
synthesize ideas, rules and principles and extraordinary
critical and analytical ability

75 – 79 A+ 7.5 Excellent - Sound knowledge of the subject matter,

thorough understanding of issues; ability to synthesize
ideas, rules and principles and critical and analytical
ability

70 – 74 A 7 Very Good - Sound knowledge of the subject matter,

excellent organizational capacity, ability to synthesize
ideas, rules and principles, critically analyse existing
materials and originality in thinking and presentation

65 – 69 A- 6 Good - Good understanding of the subject matter,

ability to identify issues and provide balanced solutions
to problems and good critical and analytical skills

60 – 64 B+ 5 Fair – Average understanding of the subject matter,

limited ability to identify issues and provide solutions to
problems and reasonable critical and analytical skills

55 – 59 B 4 Acceptable- Adequate knowledge of the subject matter

to go to the next level of study and reasonable critical
and analytical skills.

50 – 54 B- 3 Marginal- Limited knowledge of the subject matter and

irrelevant use of materials and, poor critical and
analytical skills

Below 50 F 0 Fail - Poor comprehension of the subject matter; poor

critical and analytical skills and marginal use of the
relevant materials. Will require repeating the course

6. Criteria for Student Assessments

1
Under extraordinary circumstances, the JGU Academic Council or the JGU Deans’ Council can suspend the grading
criteria or make it optional. If the grading criteria are suspended, the policy which will be framed by the School
based on the decision of the said bodies will prevail over the grading criteria. However, whether a situation is
extraordinary or not will be decided by the said bodies only.
Internal assessment of the participants will be based on the following criteria. In case any of the
participants miss the IA tests, alternative internal assessments will be conducted (Please specify
the alternative assessment)

This is a reading and discussion intensive seminar with multiple readings assigned for each
class. Readings are classified as mandatory and perspectives/provocations. Mandatory readings,
as the name suggests, explore the conceptual foundations and possibilities of a topic of discussion
and a deep, reflexive engagement with them is an absolute minimum requirement for each class.
On an average, three mandatory readings have been assigned every week. ‘Perspectives and
Provocations’ contextualize, critique, illustrate or qualify some of these conceptual frameworks or
arguments in the Indian context. For limitations of time, many of these interesting readings have
not been made mandatory but an engagement with these perspectives is strongly recommended.
Most of these readings are interdisciplinary in nature and will draw from insights in comparative
politics, sociology, political philosophy, institutional economics, law etc. A deep interest in
Indian politics and elections along with a demonstrative capacity and commitment to read
60-70 pages of academic literature across disciplines every week is a must for joining this
course.

One compulsory reflection paper of 800-900 words, addressed or responding directly to any one
of the mandatory readings in the course has to be submitted by the fourth week of the course
(tentatively, September 15th, 2020). The second response paper of 800-900 words, on any of the
mandatory or suggested readings in the course from a different topic than the first one, will be
due by October 15th, 2020. The response papers would be graded for 30 marks in total, divided
equally between the two of them. Response papers cannot be written for encyclopedia entries or
descriptive introductions to a topic in handbooks. Analytical/argumentative articles and essays
have to be chosen for your response papers. The expectations from a reflection/response paper
will be discussed in the first class of the seminar. In extraordinary cases of failure to fulfill internal
grade requirements, an essay of 2000 words in consultation with and approval from the faculty
instructor, will be allowed for 30 marks. Essay permissions are subject to the judgment of the
Faculty Instructor. Class participation is non-negotiable and there are no alternative assessments
for it.

Class participation would account for 20 marks, and will be based on your readiness and response
in the class to mandatory readings, and an individual discussion/viva towards the end of the course.
Class participation would be evaluated continuously and failure to read assigned readings for the
class would seriously impact your grades. Apart from responding to questions posed, the ability to
steer class discussion through questions and comments, will be especially noted. A critically
engaged and enthusiastic participation, driven by a sense of curiosity, collaboration and stake-
holding in the seminar, and evidenced by thoughtful, written and oral responses are central to this
course. An End-term take home paper of 50 marks will complete the final phase of grading in the
course. Therefore, students in the seminar will be graded under these heads -
{(Two Response Papers (30) + Class Participation and Viva (20) + End Term Take Home (50
marks)}.

Assessment Weightage Remarks

Response/Reflection Paper 1 15 800-900 words reflection paper due by Sept
15, 2020

Response/Reflection Paper 2 15
800-900 words reflection paper due by
October 15, 2020

Class Participation – 20 Readiness with Assigned Readings + Steering

Continuous Evaluation and Class Discussions + Viva and Discussion (end
Viva of the course).

End Semester Examination 30 to 50 50 marks, take-home exam for 48 hours.

marks

Part IV

Course/Class Policies:

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Learning and knowledge production of any kind is a collaborative process. Collaboration demands
an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we have learnt from, what we have learned, and how
reading and learning from others have helped us shape our own ideas. Even our own ideas demand
an acknowledgement of the sources and processes through which those ideas have emerged. Thus,
all ideas must be supported by citations. All ideas borrowed from articles, books, journals,
magazines, case laws, statutes, photographs, films, paintings, etc., in print or online, must be
credited with the original source. If the source or inspiration of your idea is a friend, a casual chat,
something that you overheard, or heard being discussed at a conference or in class, even they must
be duly credited. If you paraphrase or directly quote from a web source in the examination,
presentation or essays, the source must be acknowledged. The university has a framework to deal
with cases of plagiarism. All form of plagiarism will be taken seriously by the University and
prescribed sanctions will be imposed on those who commit plagiarism.

Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements

JGU endeavors to make all its courses accessible to students. All students with any known
disability needing academic accommodation are required to register with the Disability Support
Committee dsc@jgu.edu.in. The Committee has so far identified the following conditions that
could possibly hinder student’s overall well-being. These include: physical and mobility related
difficulties; visual impairment; hearing impairment; medical conditions; specific learning
difficulties e.g. dyslexia; mental health.
The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality on the matters under its purview.
Students should preferably register with the Committee during the month of June/January as
disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will coordinate all disability related
services such as appointment of academic mentors, arranging infrastructural facilities, and course
related requirements such as special lectures, tutorials and examinations.
All faculty members are requested to refer students with any of the above-mentioned conditions
to the Disability Support Committee for getting them disability-related accommodation. Faculty
members are also requested to be sensitive to the needs of such students and cooperate with
Disability Support Committee and the School, extending students the necessary support by
maintaining utmost confidentiality of the matter.
Safe Space Pledge
This course may discuss a range of issues and events that might result in distress for some students.
Discussions in the course might also provoke strong emotional responses. To make sure that all
students collectively benefit from the course, and do not feel disturbed due to either the content of
the course or the conduct of the discussions. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all within the
classroom to pledge to maintain respect towards our peers. This does not mean that you need to
feel restrained about what you feel and what you want to say. Conversely, this is about creating a
safe space where everyone can speak and learn without inhibitions and fear. This responsibility
lies not only with students, but also with the instructor.
P.S. The course instructor, as part of introducing the course manual, will discuss the scope of the
Safe Space Pledge with the class.

Cell Phones, Laptops and Similar Gadgets

Part V

Keywords Syllabus:

Representation of Different Interests and Ideas in Indian Politics, Accountability through

Elections, Indian Democratic Design and Electoral Systems, First Past the Post System vs
Proportional Representation, Electoral Reservation for SC/STs, Women in Indian Politics,
Delimitation of Constituencies, Campaign Finance, Corrupt Practices, Regulation of Campaign
Speech, Minority Representation in Indian Politics, Electoral Reforms, Election Commission,
Regional Parties in India, Allotment of Symbols, Money and Muscle in Elections.
Course Design and Overview (Weekly Plan)

Unit I: What do we Represent? Why do we Represent? Conceptual Preliminaries and

Possibilities
(Week 1)
Mandatory Reading:

1. Suzanne Dovi, “Political Representation”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall

2018 Edition), Edward N Zalta (ed.), Available at
(https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/political-representation/)
2. Jane Mansbridge, “Rethinking Representation”, American Political Science Review,
97(4): 515-28 (2003)

Perspectives and Provocations:

3. Philip Pettit, “Varieties of Public Representation” in (Shapiro, Stokes et al), Political

Representation, Cambridge, 2009, pp 61-90.
4. Andrew Rehfeld, “Towards a General Theory of Political Representation”, The Journal
of Politics, 68: 1-21 (2006)

Unit II: Who Represents? Representing Identity and Difference (Week 2-3)

Mandatory Reading:

5. Jane Mansbridge, “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A
Contingent ‘Yes’, The Journal of Politics, Vol. 61 (3) (1999), pp. 627-57.
6. Robert E. Goodin, “Representing Diversity”, British Journal of Political Science, Vol.
34, No. 3 (Jul, 2004), pp. 453-468.
7. Selected Excerpts on the Epistemology of Experience and Ethics of Representation from
Gopal Guru & Sundar Sarukkai, The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on Experience
and Theory, Oxford India Press, 2017

Perspectives and Provocations:

8. Anne Phillips, “Democracy and Representation: Or, Why Should It Matter Who Our
Representatives Are?” in Feminism and Politics, OUP: Oxford 1998, pp 224-240.
9. Michael Saward, “Authorization and Authenticity: Representation and the Unelected”,
Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 17 (1), 2009, pp. 1-22.
10. Suzanne Dovi, “In Praise of Exclusion,” Journal of Politics, 71(3): 1172-1186
Unit III: How to Represent? Constitutional Choices, Electoral Models and Institutional
Design (Week 4-5)

Mandatory Reading:

11. Juan J. Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 1,
Winter 1990, pp. 51-69
12. Scott Mainwaring & Matthew S. Shugart, “Juan Linz, Presidentialism, and Democracy:
A Critical Appraisal”, Comparative Politics, Vol. 29 (4) (July, 1997), pp. 449-471.

13. Pratap Bhanu Mehta & Devesh Kapur, “The Indian Parliament as an Institution of
Accountability”, UNRISD Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Program Paper
No. 23, January 2006.
14. Shashi Tharoor, “Why India Should Scrap Parliamentary Democracy”, Project Syndicate,
March 14, 2017

15. Andre Blais,” The Debate over Electoral Systems”, International Political Science Review,
Vol. 12, No. 3 (1991), pp. 239-260
16. Pippa Norris, “Choosing Electoral Systems: Proportional, Majoritarian and Mixed
Systems”, International Political Science Review, Vol. 18, No 3 (July 1997), pp 297-312
17. E Sridharan, “The Origins of Electoral System: Rules, Representation and Power Sharing”,
in Hasan, Sudarshan & Sridharan (Ed.), India’s Living Constitution: Ideas Practices
Controversies, (Permanent Black: 2002), pp. 344 - 369.

Perspectives and Provocations:

18. Arend Lijphart, “Constitutional Choices for New Democracies”, Journal of Democracy,
Volume 2, Number 1, Winter 1991, pp. 72-84
19. Terry Moe & Michael Caldwell, “The Institutional Foundations of Democratic
Government: A Comparison of Presidential and Parliamentary Systems”, Journal of
Institutional and Theoretical Economics, Vol. 150, No. 1, (March, 1994), pp. 171-195
20. Juan J. Linz, “The Virtues of Parliamentarism”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 4, Fall
1990, pp. 84-91.
21. Taeko Hiroi & Sawa Omori, “Perils of Parliamentarism? Political Systems and the Stability
of Democracy Revisited”, Journal of Democratization, Vol. 16, Issue 3 (2009), pp. 485-
507
22. Vernon Hewitt and Shirin M. Rai, “Parliament” in Mehta & Jayal (ed), Oxford
Companion to Politics in India, OUP: New Delhi, 2010

Unit IV: Representing the Indians: The Social-Constitutional Contract for Different
Communities
 {Week 6-7}
Mandatory Reading:

23. Yogendra Yadav, “Representation”, in Mehta & Jayal (ed), Oxford Companion to
Politics in India, 2010, pp. 347-360.
24. Rochana Bajpai, “Minority Representation and the Making of the Indian Constitution”, in
Rajeev Bhargava (Ed.), The Politics and Ethics of the Indian Constitution, New Delhi:
OUP, 2008

25. Amrita Basu, “Gender and Politics”, in Mehta & Jayal (ed), Oxford Companion to
Politics in India, 2010, pp. 168-180.

26. Zoya Hasan, “The ‘Politics of Presence’ and Legislative Reservations for Women”, in
Hasan, Sridharan & Sudarshan (eds.), India’s Living Constitution: Ideas Practices
Controversies, (Permanent Black: 2002) pp 405-427.

27. Francesca Refsum Jensenius, “Power, Performance & Bias: Evaluating the Electoral
Quota for Scheduled Castes in India”, Electronic Thesis submitted for PhD in Political
Science, University of California, Berkeley (Spring, 2013), pp. 165-173. Available at
(https://escholarship.org/content/qt7qt35859/qt7qt35859.pdf)

Perspectives and Provocations:

28. Shefali Jha, “Rights versus Representation”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol
XXXVIII No. 16, April 19, 2003

29. Shefali Jha, “Representation and its Epiphanies”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol
XXXIX No. 39, September 25, 2004

30. Surinder Jodhka, “Caste and Politics”, in Jayal & Mehta (eds.), Oxford Companion to
Politics in India, 2010

31. Jagannath Ambagudia, “Scheduled Tribes, Reserved Constituencies and Political

Reservation in India”, Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, Vol. 5 (1), 2019.

32. Christophe Jaffrelot, “Class and Caste in the 2019 Indian Election”, Studies in Indian
Politics, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2019), pp 149-60.
 33. Alistair McMillan, Standing at the Margins: Representation and Electoral Reservation in
India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press

34. Tanweer Fazal, “Between Identity and Equity: An Agenda for Affirmative Action for
Muslims”, in Gurpreet Mahajan and Surinder S. Jodhka (eds.) Religion, Community and
Development: Changing Contours of Politics and Policy in India, Delhi: Routledge, 2010

Unit V – Electoral Competition and Election Commission in India (Week 8-9}

Mandatory Reading:

35. E Sridharan, “The Party System”, in Jayal & Mehta (ed.), Oxford Companion to Politics
in India, 2010

36. Pradeep Chhibber & Rahul Verma, “Statism, Recognition and Party System Change in
India”, in Chhibber & Verma, Ideology and Identity: The Changing Party System of
India, OUP New York: 2018.

37. “The Election Commission”, Ch. 5 in VS Rama Devi and SK Mendiratta (ed), How India
Votes, LexisNexis Butterworths (2008)

38. Alistair McMillan, “The Election Commission”, in Oxford Companion to Politics in

India, OUP: New Delhi, 2010

39. Anupama Roy, “Identifying Citizens: Electoral Rolls, the Right to Vote, and the Election
Commission of India”, Election Law Journal, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2012.

Perspectives and Provocations:

40. James Manor, “Parties and the Party System”, in Zoya Hasan (ed.), Parties and Party
Politics in India, Oxford: 2004 (Ninth Edition)
41. Chapters 2&3 from Ujjwal Kumar Singh & Anupama Roy, Election Commission of
India: Institutionalising Democratic Uncertainties, Oxford University Press: New Delhi,
2019.
Unit VI: Census and Constituencies: The Politics of Delimitation {Week 10}

Mandatory Readings:

42. Alistair McMillan, “Changing the Boundaries of Indian Democracy”, Available online at
http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/users/Mcmillan/DelimitationMcMillan.pdf

43. AK Verma, Delimitation in India: Methodological Issues, Economic and Political

Weekly, March 4, 2006

44. Alistair McMillan, “Population Change and Democratic Structure”, Seminar, 2006
(Available online at http://www.india-
seminar.com/2001/506/506%20alistair%20mcmillan.htm)

Unit VII - Election Disputes and Issues: The Law and Procedure {Week 11-13}

Week 11: Issues

• Qualifications and Disqualifications for MPs and MLAs

• Registration of Political Parties
• Allotment of Symbols
• Criminalisation of Politics – Question of Charges, Convictions and the Right to
Contest for or continue in office.

• Electoral Offences – Campaign Speech – Corrupt Practices

• Exit Polls and Opinion Polls

Mandatory Readings:

45. V.S Ramadevi and S.K. Mediratta, How India Votes: Election Laws Practice and
Procedure, 2nd Ed., (LexisNexis: 2006) pp. 361-388, 1005- 1126, 547 – 626, 696 – 704,
905 - 1004
46. Representation of Peoples Act, 1951
 47. Virendra Kumar, “Varying Approaches to Religion Under the Electoral Law in India”, The
Indian Yearbook of Comparative Law, 2018, pp 127-150.
48. MV Rajeev Gowda & E Sreedharan, “Reforming India’s Party Financing and Election
Expenditure Laws”, Election Law Journal, Vol 11(2), 2012, pp 226-240.

Perspectives and Provocations:

49. Milan Vaishnav, “The Market for Criminality: Money, Muscle and Elections in India”,
Working Draft, August 31, 2011.
50. Oliver Heath & Louise Tillin, “Institutional Performance and Vote Buying in India”,
Studies in Comparative International Development, Vol. 53, 2018, pp, 90-110.
51. B. Venkatesh Kumar, Power to Allot Symbols, EPW Commentary, Sept. 16, 2000
52. Samuel Paul, Right to Information on Candidates How Will the Voters Know?, EPW
Commentary, April 12, 2003
53. Trilochan Sastry, “Civil Society, Indian Elections and Democracy Today”, IIM Bangalore
Working Paper No. 465 (July, 2014) s
54. S Aarthi Anand & Celia Joanne Jenkins, Exit Polls: Debating Freedom or Fairness, EPW
Commentary, Nov. 20, 2004
55. Seymour Sudman, Do Exit Polls Influence Voting Behavior? The Public Opinion
Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 3 (1986), pp. 331-339
56. Brad Alexander, Good Money and Bad Money: Do Funding Sources Affect Electoral
Outcomes? Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 2 (2005), pp. 353-358
57. Richard Briffault, Public Funding and Democratic Elections, University of Pennsylvania
Law Review, Vol. 148, No. 2 (1999), pp. 563-590

Landmark Cases:

1. Public Interest Foundation vs Union of India (2019) 3 SCC 224

2. Abhiram Singh v C.D. Commachen (Dead) By Lrs. & Ors (2017) SCC 9
3. Common Cause- A Registered Society v. UOI (1996) 2 SCC 752
4. Union of India v. Assn. for Democratic Reforms (2002) 5 SCC 294

Unit VIII: Debating Electoral Reforms {Week 14}

58. Full text of 244th and 255th Report of the Law Commission of India, Ministry of Law and
Justice, Government of India
59. Election Commission of India, Note on Proposed Electoral Reforms, 2004
60. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Is Electoral and Institutional Reform the Answer? Seminar (2010)
Online at - http://www.india-
seminar.com/2001/506/506%20pratap%20bhanu%20mehta.htm

61. Yogendra Yadav, A Radical Agenda for Political Reforms, Seminar (2012), Available at
http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/506/506%20yogendra%20yadav.htm