Popular sovereignty

Topic: Democracy: Forms of Government, Principles and Outcomes · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 10 "The Constitution of India: An Introduction"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 10, Ch 1 "Power-sharing"

Meaning

Popular sovereignty is the principle that all political power in a State comes from the people. The government holds power only because the people have given it, and only for as long as they allow.

It matters because it is the base of democracy. It decides who has the final say: the people, not a king, a foreign ruler or the government of the day. In India, it is written into the opening words of the Preamble.

Explanation

How it works

• The people are the source. Power starts with citizens. They lend it to their representatives.
• Representative participation. People elect representatives, and those representatives make decisions for them.
• The representatives govern for the people, not over them.

• Their power is borrowed, so it can be taken back.

• Elections are how the people use this power.

• Voters choose a government.

• At the next election, voters can also remove it.

• Secret ballot. Voting is secret, so no one can know a person's choice or punish them for it. This keeps the people's choice free.

Its main parts

• The people made the Constitution. The Constitution was not given by a king or a foreign power. The people made it and gave it to themselves.
• Every adult has a share. Under universal adult franchise, every adult citizen can vote. Caste, religion, sex, wealth and education make no difference.

• If only some people could vote, power would come from a few, not from "the people".

• One person, one vote. Each citizen's vote has equal weight. This is the value the Election Commission protects (Art. 324).

Conditions and limits

• Power must stay accountable between elections. Accountability means those in power must explain their actions and can be removed. Its tools include:
• the RTI Act, 2005, which lets citizens ask for government records;
• Question Hour, when MPs question ministers in Parliament;

• audit by the CAG (Art. 148), which checks how public money is spent.

• The majority cannot do anything it likes.

• Parliament can amend the Constitution under Art. 368.
• It still cannot destroy the basic structure (the core features of the Constitution that even an amendment cannot remove). Democracy and the rule of law are part of this core.

• So a temporary majority cannot use the people's mandate to end the people's rule.

• It grows over time. Countries did not include all their people at once. The age of a democracy does not show how inclusive it is.

In the Constitution and practice

• Preamble:
• It begins with "We, the People of India".

• The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.

• Art. 326, adult suffrage: elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies are held on the basis of adult suffrage (voting by all adults).

• Any citizen who is at least 18 on the qualifying date can be registered as a voter [3].

• A person can be disqualified only under a law, on grounds such as non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime, or corrupt or illegal practice [3].

• The 61st Amendment Act, 1988 lowered the voting age:

• It replaced "twenty-one years" with "eighteen years" in Art. 326 [2].
• It came into force on 28 March 1989 [2].

• Its stated aim was to give young people, who are literate and aware, a voice in politics [2].

• Election Commission of India (Art. 324): it runs elections, so it is the body through which the people's power is actually used.

• Inclusive from day one:
• India gave the vote to all adults, women included, from 1950.

• Switzerland, an old democracy, gave women the vote in federal elections only in 1971.

• Decentralisation: local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) take people's power down to the grassroots.

Don't confuse with

• Parliamentary sovereignty: in Britain, Parliament is supreme. In India, the people are the source of power. Parliament is limited by the Constitution and cannot destroy its basic structure.
• Universal adult franchise: this is the tool (every adult can vote, under Art. 326). Popular sovereignty is the principle behind it (power comes from the people).
• Rule of law: rule of law says the law is supreme and applies equally to everyone. Popular sovereignty says the people are the source of power. A democracy needs both.
• Power-sharing / decentralisation: this concerns how power is divided among levels and organs of government. Popular sovereignty concerns where power comes from.

Prelims Hooks

• "We, the People of India" in the Preamble shows that the Constitution's authority comes from the people.
• Art. 326: elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held on the basis of adult suffrage. A voter must be at least 18 [3].
• 61st Amendment Act, 1988: it lowered the voting age in Art. 326 from 21 to 18, with effect from 28 March 1989 [2].
• Trap: the voting age was lowered by the 61st Amendment, not the 44th or the 86th. The 44th (1978) dealt with property, and the 86th (2002) inserted Art. 21A.
• Trap: Swiss women got the federal vote only in 1971. India had universal adult franchise from 1950.
• Voters can be disqualified only under a law, on grounds such as non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime, or corrupt or illegal practice [3].

Mains Points

• Democracy can deepen over time:
• India gave every adult the vote from 1950, while Switzerland took until 1971 to include women.
• The 61st Amendment brought young citizens into politics [2].

• This shows that "the people" in popular sovereignty can become wider over time.

• People's will vs constitutional limits:

• Elections give a government its mandate, but the basic structure limit on Art. 368 stops a temporary majority from destroying democracy, rule of law or judicial review.

• This protects the people's long-term power from short-term majorities.

• Formal vs real sovereignty:

• The vote alone is not enough. People keep real power only when accountability works between elections, through RTI 2005, Question Hour, CAG audit (Art. 148) and a free media and civil society.
• Weak accountability turns popular sovereignty into a right used only once every five years.

Related concepts

• Rule of law

Read more

• Principles of democracy and their constitutional basis