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Elections can be held in many ways in. All the democratic
countries of the world hold elections There are more than one hundred
countries in the world in which elections take place to choose people’s
representatives. We also read in this chapter that elections are held in
many countries that are not democratic.
But why do we need elections? Let us try to imagine a democracy
without elections. A rule of the people is possible without any elections
if all the people can sit together everyday and take all the decisions. But
as we have already seen in Chapter 1, this is not possible in any large
community. Nor is it possible for everyone to have the time and
knowledge to take decisions on all matters. Therefore in most
democracies people rule through their representatives.
Is there a democratic way of selecting representatives without
elections? Let us think of a place where representatives are selected on
the basis of age and experience. Or a place where they are chosen on the
basis of education or knowledge. There could be some difficulty in
deciding on who is more experienced or knowledgeable. But let us say
the people can resolve these difficulties. Clearly, such a place does not
require elections.
But can we call this place a democracy? How do we find out if the
people like their representatives or not? How do we ensure that these
representatives rule as per the wishes of the people? How to make sure
that those who the people don’t like do not remain their representatives?
This requires a mechanism by which people can choose their
representatives at regular intervals and change them if they wish to do
so. This mechanism is called election. Therefore, elections are
considered essential in our times for any representative democracy. In an
election the voters make many choices. They can choose who will make
law for them. They can choose who will form the government and take
major decisions. They can choose the party whose policies will guide
the government and law making.