- Voluntary participation of people from different political activities can be called political participation and if people's participation is seen at the time of elections, it is called participation in elections.
- Since the practice of democratic governance is based on people's participation, its level of public acceptance is high.
- Participation in elections takes many forms.
- Generally voting in elections, participating in election campaigns, becoming an active member of the political path, participating in political movements, etc.
- The 60-65% turnout seen in the elections indicates the participation of the people in the elections.
- Long-term factors influencing the election:
- Knowing election sentiment is a barometer.
- Since elections are considered a peace revolution in a democracy, long-term factors influence it.
- Which are as follows.
(I) Social Factor: As a social animal, a person's (voter's) age, gender, education, habitation, caste, creed, religion, electoral processes are definitely affected.
- These factors influence voters to a lesser extent.
- As a voter, the youth vote enthusiastically and independently.
- Voting is higher in rural areas than in urban areas and tends to be more towards any one political party.
- There is no difference in the percentage of male and female voters.
- But, in some constituencies, the percentage of women voting is higher.
- Indian society divided into many societies and castes greatly influences the voters in elections.
- Political parties range from the selection of candidates to the formation of the cabinet.
- Although casteism is banned under the Representation of the People Act 1951, voting on the basis of caste is also appealed.
- After independence, the upper castes of the society had more dominance over politics.
- With the increase in legal reserves and the rate of education, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward castes have been able to exert their influence in the political arena.
- Today some castes raise the notion of being a vote bank for a particular political party.
- E.g. Before the 2017 assembly elections in Gujarat, Patidars was the BJP's vote bank.
- As a non-sectarian country, appealing to vote in elections in the name of religion or sect is considered a violation of the code of conduct.
- Political parties, candidates indirectly use in the election of religion or sect.
- Political parties, candidates indirectly use in the election of religion or sect.
- E.g. In Indian politics, the fatwa of the Molvi of the Jama Masjid in Delhi or Yogi Adityanath, who is the head of the temple in Uttar Pradesh, is the only minority who prefers political parties and candidates for their own identity and security.
(2) Economic factor: Economic prosperity is created in the country for different reasons.
- The rich class of society is indifferent to voting.
- Middle class voters have political leanings but vote only in matters that touch their interests.
- While economically weaker sections participate in the polls in large numbers.
- Political parties on their part also offer many temptations to win.
(3) Ideology: Voters are naturally attracted to like-minded political parties to see clearly the influence of one or more ideologies, such as capitalism, socialism, tradition or conservatism, secularism, on political parties in different countries.
- As the wealthy-resourceful government is less influenced by capitalist ideologies influenced by falling parties.
(4) Family Background: The family is an important agency in the political and social life.
- Politically, the meeting has an effect on the children of the family if there is a discussion about politics, political parties or leaders in the family.
- When children become adults, they tend to vote only for political parties associated with their family ideology.
- Sometimes even political parties promote family racism.
- For example, the Nehru-Gandhi family in India.
(5) Political party and leadership: In the political arena, the party and its leadership that succeeds in attracting voters to itself performs well in elections.
- Political parties conduct their election manifestos, campaigns or programs in a way that affects the public opinion.
- Star campaigners (leaders) of political parties can change the mood of voters during elections.
- Impressive personality, attractive rhetoric appeals to the voters to cast their votes.
(6) Male Dominance: Our society is largely Male Dominance.
- This trend is also reflected in politics and the voting process.
- Due to this dominance of men, women often vote as they suggest.
- Political parties also talk a lot about women's empowerment.
- The party sits in the water at the time of ticketing during the election.
- The percentage of women representatives in our legislatures does not exceed ten to twelve per cent.
- We see a significant increase in the number of women representatives due to the 33 per cent women's reserve in local bodies.
(7) Money, manpower and the media are important factors influencing voting:
- Parties and candidates who have a large amount of financial power, manpower and access to the media to influence the polls can influence the polls.
- These are the factors that influence voting during elections.
- It is difficult to say when the factor influenced the turnout.
- The general electorate of India is incomprehensible.
- It is not easy to decide when to vote on which issue.