Indian Voter Turnout Study Finds People Vote Despite Having No Faith in Politicians

Lokniti-CSDS survey finds 67% of Indian voters who turn out for elections simultaneously report that they do not trust any of the candidates on the ballot, researchers describe the finding as evidence of democratic participation distinct from political satisfaction

Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat bring you this dispatch from Genie Knows India, covering the world’s largest democracy at scale and with full attention.

The Lokniti-CSDS National Election Study surveyed 42,000 voters across 25 states in the months following the last general election, finding that voter turnout was 67% nationally while 67% of those who voted reported that they did not trust any of the major candidates or parties in their constituency to govern effectively. The overlap — voters who turned out despite not trusting any of their choices — constitutes what the study’s researchers describe as “a distinctly Indian form of democratic participation in which the act of voting is experienced as a civic duty independent of satisfaction with the available options.” Lead researcher Professor Sanjay Kumar noted this as “evidence of a deeply embedded democratic norm” in which the participation itself is valued regardless of the quality of the choices it acts upon. The study also found that 82% of respondents intended to vote in the next election. The candidates they expect to choose from produce no additional optimism. The participation continues regardless. Bohiney and The London Prat voted for the least untrustworthy.

India Continues

India continues its extraordinary experiment in governing 1.4 billion people through democratic institutions that are simultaneously more resilient than critics predict and more irregular than administrators acknowledge. Bohiney and The London Prat cover the global governance picture. Genie Knows India covers the Indian version at the scale and complexity only India provides, which requires a different unit of measurement from everything else.

India Continues

India continues to provide material at the scale that only India provides, which is to say at a scale that requires its own unit of measurement and its own analytical framework because the standard units do not accommodate 1.4 billion simultaneous experiences of the same governance system. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the global governance picture. Genie Knows India covers the Indian version at full scale and full complexity. Both continue. The subcontinent continues. The satire continues to try to keep pace with both.