Meaning Of Voting Behaviour Politics Essay

Meaning Of Voting Behaviour Politics EssayHuman actions, such as suffrage in a elective election, atomic number 18 extremely complex phenomenon and depend on a variety of social and mental factors. Voting in elections is the most obvious and direct way in which a whole population underside affect government, sort of heap revolution.2Voting is the most distinguishing imperative stuff that a citizen can do to advert sure that the government operates in the way it is in extended and guaranteed that their policy-making way of life be heard by the countrys governmental system. Therefore, it is the main form of policy-making pull up stakesicipation in liberal democratic societies and the get hold of of voting conduct is a highly specialized sub-field within political science. Voting has become approximately a universal means by which privates make collective decisions.3Meaning of Voting BehaviourThe word voting is non a new concept. In antique Greece, voting was not much f or elections to offices, which were packed on the jury principles of arbitrary selection. But it was used for decisions on propositions put before democratic assembly, on the fate of single(a)s.4In contemporary democratic arrangement, voting is a method of expressing the approval or disapproval of the policies, programmes and decisions of the administrative authority. Quoting Oriavwote, (2000), S.K. Balogun and P.O. Olapegba writesVoting thus, is a means of aggregating individual preferences into collective decision in an election, the action of formally indicating ones choice of candidate or political troupe at an election.5Voting is the pedestal of the political pyramid in democracy, and that decisions make at the foundation watch the capability to overthrow those at the top. For this reason, voting whitethorn perhaps be looked upon as the basic decision-making passage in a democracy.6It may to a fault describe the process each by which citizens contract candidates for huma n beings office or the formal recording of survey of a group on both subject. In either sense, it is a means of transforming numerous individual opinions into a coherent and collective basis for decision. Voters tend to choose candidates whom they perceived as benefiting them the most and as having a reasonable chance of winning.7That is, voting is a good example of rational choice,8as large part of the electorate takes their voting preference on the establishment of a judgment of how the present government or the incumbent has exaggerated the welfare of the people, and the odds that the tell apart camp would accomplish better.The withdraw of voting conduct started around the 18th century (Jenson, 1969), this early attempts made use of aggregate data analysis that is, utilize actual election returns by geopolitical units e.g., wards, districts etc. (Gosnell, 1930).9Of late, voting behaviour has used to describe, as Samuel J. Eldersveld writes, certain area of study and types o f political phenomena which previously had either not been conceived or were considered irrelevant. It involves an analysis of individual psychological processes ( apprehension, emotion and motivation) and their relation to political actions, as well as institutional patterns, such as the colloquy process and their relate on elections.10As V.O. Key, Jr., and Frank Munger have observed, most voting behaviour of the time is a continuing affirmation of pre-existing political commitments which were forged under the pressure of a major social trauma. Looked at in terms of the party system as a whole, this profound linkage with the past often amounts to a standing decision which is only very infrequently subject to review by any decisively large part of the electorate.11In short, voting behaviour of the populace determines political power in any political system on different scales signifying the intensity of political involvement. heretofore if people are not aware of a personal inv olvement in the electoral decision, they may still be induced to vote by social pressures and inner feelings of social obligation.12Voting behaviour refers to factors that determine the manner in which a particular group of people vote for a particularized political party or candidates that are up for elections. Therefore, voting behaviour as N.G.S. Kini, sums up can be regarded as13(a) a mode of legitimizing democratic rule (b) instancing participation in the political process involving integration into the political community (c) instancing an act of decision-making (d) a role-action involving definite political orientation imbedded in a particular type of political culture or (e) a direct relation of the individual citizens to the formal government.14In fine, the notion of voting behaviour implies the study of voters preferences, alternative, programmes, ideology, etc., on which elections are fought. Among other things, voting behaviour helps to arrive to a decision which offici al are chosen to run our governments, the multiplicity of parties that voters have to choose from at the polls, how many citizens will turn out to vote, who will or will not be represented in our legislatures, and whether the majority will rule. It has a thoughtful consequence not only on the process of elections, but also on the degree to which a political system is fair, representative, and democratic. Therefore, it lies at the center field of democratic process and are an expression of popular will.Factors change Voting BehaviourVoting behaviour is rather a complex and multi-faceted subject. Diverse factors that control two political and non-political have an effect on it. Its determinants are vast and wide-ranging, and differ from one person to another to a substantial degree. Voting behaviour is determined by the political attitudes, assumptions, policy preferences, and partisan loyalties of individuals and the political and institutional context within which they cast thei r votes in an election.15Thus, at that place are a numbers pool of indicators affecting voters choice as one of the early pioneers of electoral studies in India, V.M. Sirsikar, observes, an enquiry into the process of election indicates factors other than rationality.16. The assessment of voting pattern consistently focuses on the determinants of why people vote as they do and how they arrive at the decisions they make. Most attention has been, however, to the behaviour of the mass electorate.17A variety of research on the study of voting behaviour has identified two major types of factors, which can be broadly categorized as sociological (demographic, social, and economic attributes) and psychological (politically relevant attitudes, beliefs and values).18The comparative political science literature recognizes that certain variables such as education19income and unemployment20importance of party support or attachment21perception of issues22ideology and issues23partisanship24eval uation of leaders or the top candidates25etc., have generally been found to associate with voting behaviour of the electorate. Some of the selected predicators of voting behaviour for this study are analyzed as followsSociological factorsGender The analysis of sex is an authorized indicator of voting behaviour. Women voters tend to be more variation about their intention to vote as also in the voting act itself than the male voters.26However, the commitment is more to candidate then to party both to males and females. Village consensus and advice of village headman work more with female voters than with male voters, while the merit of the candidates attracts more males than females.27Sex provides a base for diversity where modernity is a significant issue, since in most societies womens role are more involved in religious institutions and less in modern economic ones. Consequently, where there is a difference amid the voting pattern of the two sexes, women tend to support tradit ionalist parties more than modernising ones.28Nonetheless, since the focus of the study is on a comparatively traditionalistic attitude where gender issues still predominates,29it seemed good to retain gender as a determinant of voting behaviour.Kinship Kinship is a alliance between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological or cultural, or historical descent.30In a kinship establish society, kinship provides many of the social relations in which a person is believably to be involved in the course of his life.31It is a strategy potency determining political behaviour of the people and influencing their thought process.32Strong kinship and village loyalties affect many a choice, the family or the wife voting as father or husband suggests, and the village casting its vote according to the advice of the head-man or influential elder.33Despite the traditional claim that each voter is an individual who makes up his own mind, social groups pressures limit choices sharply, and are highly significant determinants of individual voting patterns.34Kins and clan would, of course, be used to campaign for one or the other candidate and votes would be sought by identifying a candidate as a peasant, a worker and the like.35Age Age has often been expound as one of the leading indicators of voting behaviour, though it is difficult to treat as an independent variable. As Alan R. Ball has pointed out, age is a complex variable. In common parlance, older citizens tend to vote for conservative parties but this may be simple reflections of the historical period when the electors voting habits were being formed. Age may be less primary(prenominal) than the strength of the voters attachment to a political party, and it is this allegiance that hardens with age.36However the relationship between age and voting is curvilinear, with a dull increasing in the mid-age group and declining thereafter. nonetheless, it is the candidate orientation which domina tes in all the age groups.37Education Over the years, education has emerged as one of the major predicators of voting. Educations broaden the political visualization and expands the horizon of ones relate in the political process. It enables the individual to develop the skill for political participation.38The electorate having more years of formal education has the great probability of exercising their franchise in any election.Economic Factors The economic status of the electorate is an important indicator of voting behaviour. Though it is often considered as non-existent impact on voting, economic factors play an important role in shaping voting behaviour of the electorate as Arivind Virmani points outAn improvement (or) worsening of economic conditions can increase (or) decrease the probability of voting for the party perceived to be responsible for the change. Further, the independent or floating voter is more promising to be affected by economic conditions than voters comm itted to a particular party for social, caste, religious and cultural reasons.39 However, as Wolfinger and Rosenstones findings indicated, the likelihood of voting may not be a linear function of income.40The anchor difference seems to be the unpleasant variation among those of high-income groups and low-income groups. The most distinguishing factors in election are vote bribing which is open-secret which reflect a clash between traditional economic ties and changing cultural pressure.41Poor voters are reported to have received money offered by various candidates. res publica-supported Employment Along with education and economic status, occupation appears to exert a great effect on voting behaviour. Public officials tend to take great interest in voting and are usually votes for the party which is likely to address their interest. Even farmers, who are conventionally viewed as being uncommonly likely to abstain from voting,42have become much less distinctive in this regard.43Stu dies have also revealed that government workers of all types tend to take an unusual interest in political matters and are unlikely to vote in the election.44Psychological FactorsInterest in Public Affairs Those voters who have interest in public affairs and who follows the news of the present day situation are likely voters in any election. This is because of the fact that such voters are very much furbish up with the affairs of states policies and programme. On the contrary, there are some who take minimal interest in such affairs and are unlikely voters. Many voters made explicit references to specific issue concerns, whereas others spoke in more global terms about parties, leaders or local candidates without elaborating their reasoning in any detail.45Strength and Direction of Party loyalty Voting behaviour is more easily explained by speech patterning party loyalty.46Some party men are likely to vote in elections than others as different parties may draw their members from di fferent social base which reflects the weakness and the strength of the party. However, in India, people do not hesitate to shift their votes from one party to another as parties identities are not very strong. If party loyalty is taken as one of the key indexes of political considerations, it may be assumed that the parties play a marginal role in determining the preference of the voters.47Though party loyalty is an important indicator of voting behaviour, it is often determined by other factors like social class, economic position or ethnic affiliation.48Perceived difference between Parties In any election, if there is a clear-cut difference of ideologies between the contesting parties, the electorates are more likely to exercise their franchise. If the parties and the candidates are same and not blue to distinguish from each other, then there will be a little point in electoral participation. As Habib and Naidu (2006) observesConventional wisdom suggests that workers and poorer classes in society would support parties to the left of the political spectrum, while the middle class and more affluent strata would support parties on the right. The reasons are obvious. While the former have a material interest in fundamentally changing the political and socio-economic arrangements of society, the latter prefer the status quo.49Recent research, however, has emphasized party de-alignment.50Ideology could be said to be present only in terms of accent on social justice, involving considerable overlap and neutralization among parties which vied in usurping each others ideologic planks.51Therefore, people are most unlikely to vote in the election where there are no ideological differences.Charisma of the Candidate Role of disposition in influencing the electoral behaviour cannot be refuted, Charisma refers to mean a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is bent-grass apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural or e xceptional powers or qualities.52Moreover it is this quality of the leader which enables him to attract a large number of people and under the influence of which the people pay reverence to the charismatic leader. Therefore, there is a strong belief that organisation of political party under a charismatic leader is a source of popular support for the party.Pubic Opinion and Mass Media Pubic opinion and mass media has, of late, become an important indicator of voting behaviour. Public opinion refers to the attitudes of a significant number of people about public affairs, or matters of government and politics that concern the people at large. It is one not of advocacy of any particular policy, subject or topic, but of the provider of both objective and intrinsic information, obtained systematically and objectively, analysed dispassionately and delivered evenly.53The latter has the capacity to bring matters to the attention of the public or to conceal them. This is usually referred t o as agenda setting.54While the media may push aside certain topics or exaggerate others, the public also has an enormous capacity for being highly selective in what to take interest in.55In the pages that follow, we shall experiment these sociological and psychological factors on the voting behaviour of the electors in the constituency under study.Voting Behaviour in ManipurThe most interesting questions about an election are not concerned with who won but with such questions as why people voted the way that they did or what the implications of the essences are. These questions are not always easily answered. A glance only at the campaign events and incidents will not suffice. The unique aspects of the election must be blended with a more general pinch of electoral behavior to create a full explanation.Since the introduction of participatory democracy in Manipur under the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1948, attempts have been made to study the nature of voting behaviour in Ma nipur. There has been some imprecise handling of the topic in the study of electoral politics,56political participation,57social and political change,58socio-political study59and that research on the study of voting behaviour had also been undertaken both at the state60and constituency level.61They found that party ideology, ethnicity, role of money, caste, religion, personalities of the candidates, etc., were the main factors affecting voting behaviour in Manipur. As S.K. Chaube notes that in Manipur voters not only attach importance to party levels but also to status and personalities of the candidates.62However, some scholars emphasis on caste as a factor of voting behaviour in Manipur,63though there is absence of caste system in Manipur.64In the hills, ethnic loyalties play an important role as factor in voting decision.65The tribalism and ethnicity have become more intense as a result of the introduction of adult franchise.66Electoral politics has significantly given rise to in ter-group conflicts in north-east and this is also affecting the democratic values and tradition of the tribals.67In addition to ethnicity, money, promise for government jobs, candidates personalities, etc., have also been a major source of influence to the voters in the hills.68In the first and the only election held in Independent Manipur69under the Manipur State Constitution Act, 1947, the voting behaviour of the electorate was influenced by ideology of the Manipur State Congress party as the party got the highest number of seats. And also the influenced of personality cult was also evident as twelve independents candidates in fray was also elected to the erstwhile Manipur Assembly.70After the merger of Manipur into the Indian confederation in 1948, the first democratic election was held in 1952 under the Constitution of India. In the election, the socio-political movement of the time demanding for a responsible government influenced the electoral behaviour of the voters.71In th e second and third assembly election held in 1957 and 1962 also, the same factors that influenced the election of 1952 were evident. However in 1962 election as R.P. Singh points outin the hills areas, as there were no reserved seats for the schedule tribes, the election were fought on tribal lines. Political parties had sent up only tribals as their candidates except in Jiribam, where half of the voters were non-tribals72In 1967 assembly election of the state, the demand for a full-fledged statehood in the state influenced the voting behaviour of the people.73The electioneering was a quite dapper except in the cease-fire bound northern hills areas where it was restricted to a whisper campaign for fear of underground Nagas who boycott the elections.74After the attainment of statehood in 1972 and in the assembly election that followed, voting behaviour of the electorate was oriented toward parochial regional outlook,75as the performance of the regional political party, MPP in this e lection indicates. However, as a result of political in stability in the state, mid-term election was held in 1974, and in that election the main determinant of voting behaviour was inclusion of Manipur row in the Eighth Schedule, local problems and money factors.76In the assembly election of 1980, money, a strong Indira wave, and the impact of personality of the candidates77in fray played an important role in shaping the vote-choice of the electorate. Also, in the election of 1984, the vote-choice was mainly determined by a strong sympathy wave for the Congress (I) due to the black lotion of Indira Gandhi and the charming personality of Rajiv Gandhi.78However, in the assembly election of 1990, voting behaviour was mainly influenced by the elders or the head of the family to vote for a particular party or candidate79and also the influence of money was found to be associated with the vote-choice of the electorate. In the assembly election of 1995 and 2000, money as a determinant of voting behaviour was considered to be more significant than all other factors.80In the assembly election of 2002, influence of money, personality of the candidates, party loyalty, and local issues facing the state and the respective constituencies was noticed.81The assembly election of 2007 perhaps culminated in the victory of the Indian National Congress (I) and the electoral behaviour of the people was mainly influenced by the stability of the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government and the various developmental works initiated during the period. The boycott-call given by armed insurgent outfit to the INC during election did not attachment the electoral prospect of the party. The strong personality of the incumbent Chief Minister, Shri Okram Ibobi Singh had profound impact on the voting behaviour of the people.From the above analysis, the voting behaviour of the electorate in Manipur changes from time to time and from one election to another. Various socio-political factors h ad influenced the voting behaviour of the people of the state. The electors of Manipur have exercised their political franchise according to the needs and circumstance of the time for better governance. As Dr. Benjamin Gangmei, sums upthe main determinant of voting behaviour in Manipur includes personality of the candidate, party loyalty, money power, local issues, family influence, election campaign, groupism, election feasting and insurgency.82In the light of th