The move spearheaded by the Jharkhand BJP MLA, Raghubar Das, to take over the administration of Jamshedpur town from the Tatas (IE, October 30), must be seen in conjunction with the collapse of basic civic amenities in each of our cities. This raises several fundamental issues in democratic governance.

Jamshedpur has won a UN award for the best administered city in the country. Normally, that would have prompted policy-makers to emulate what has been done there. Unfortunately, politics in India is perverse. As was the case with the IITs, our politicians are more interested in pulling down a successful model, rather than replicating it.

The world over, it is an article of faith that elected representatives should control all forms of government. The fact that most politicians are inept is immaterial. The harm they cause is accepted as the unavoidable price to be paid for democracy. This uncritical faith is a misplaced reading of the founding principles of democracy. Rousseau, who championed and pioneered the basic principles of democracy, based his thesis on a two-part argument: one, citizens should control their own civic and political destiny. Two, as few citizens have the skills, the talent, the experience and the resources to manage civic and political affairs, it is best for them to enter into a ‘social contract’ with those who have the skills, talent and experience to perform the task.

Social contract implies that civic management should be handed over to experts. Unfortunately, the manner in which citizens’ representatives are chosen does not guarantee that such a specification will be realised in practice. This basic stipulation has been eroded to such an extent that it stands negated altogether. It is now considered improper to call for even the barest minimum qualifications from any contender for political office.

... contd.