What are the Guidelines for political reforms in India?
Four important guidelines have to be kept in mind when political reforms are carried out. When laws are being revised the government has to be carefully to ensure that wrong political practises are not encouraged. Laws alone cannot resolve challenges; democratic reforms are to be carried out mainly by political activists, parties, movements and politically conscious citizens.
Any legal change must carefully look at what results it will have on politics. Sometimes the results may be counter-productive. Generally, laws that seek to ban something are not very successful in politics. Laws that give politicians incentives to do good things have more chances of working.
Political reforms should empower people to carry out democratic reforms. The Right to Information Act is a good example of a law that empowers the people to find out what is happening in government and act as watchdogs of democracy. Such a law helps to control corruption and supplements the existing laws that banned corruption and imposed strict penalties.
Democratic reforms should be carried out through political practice. They should strengthen democratic practices. Political reforms are of no use if they are not implemented. So, political reforms should be formulated, with implementation as the focal factor.
