SO Musings: What the Voter Should Know - The Historical Origins of Democracy - Spontaneous Order 11/11/20, 12:04 AM

SPONTANEOUS ORDER
EXPLORE THE POWER OF IDEAS

SO Musings: What the Voter Should

Know – The Historical Origins of
Democracy
By SPONTANEOUS ORDER - November 6, 2020

Credits: Freepik

Elec%ons are an indelible part of the democra%c process. However, the

current trend of populism around the world has made the electoral process
and the subsequent democra%cally elected government en%rely contradictory
to what the purpose of democracy was. It is per%nent to clarify the concept of
why democracy exists for voters to make informed choices.

In this ar%cle published in the April 15, 1961 edi%on of the Indian Libertarian
magazine, the author M.A. Venkata Rao emphasises that the origin of
democracy was intended to place limits on governing powers and not to invite
them to expand powers in the guise of welfare.

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SO Musings: What the Voter Should Know - The Historical Origins of Democracy - Spontaneous Order 11/11/20, 12:04 AM

The first and most important truth that the voter in our tremendous
democracy should know is that the raison d’etre of democracy is not welfare
or Ma Bap providence to the children as is probably the dominant impression
current among the ignorant mul%tudes. The far more urgent necessity that
transferred power to the people from former hereditary holders, (whether
monarchies or oligarchies) was the felt need to curb the exercise of arbitrary
power on their part resul%ng in the daily and hourly oppression of the
subjects. It is said that democracy was born in envy of the holders of power
and their pomp and luxury. It was also aQributed to the common man’s
intolerance of the ease and comfort that came as a prerequisite to the holders
of the governmental power whether they deserved it or not by their discharge
of their du%es in a faithful manner.

But the fact remains that the central jus%fica%on and mo%ve of democracy
consisted historically in the necessity of imposing checks on the exercise of
arbitrary power by kings and tyrants. The ac%on of the Norman Barons at
Runnymede in forcing King John to sign the Magna Carta was the first of the
great signals and achievements that came to be wriQen into democra%c
government in all future %mes. The Bill of Rights codified by John Locke aVer
the “bloodless revolu%on” of 1688, the Declara%on of Independence and the
Rights of Man connected with the American Revolu%on, the Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity and the Rights of Man formulated by the French Revolu%on not
long aVer in Paris and the democra%c rights wriQen into the English
cons%tu%on stage by stage throughout the nineteenth century, (full universal
adult franchise being reached only aVer the war of 1914-18) are all so many
landmarks that spell out the bulwarks of liberty. They are primarily limita%ons
on absolute power imposed by the people’s representa%ves out of biQer
experience to safeguard their daily life from undue interference from their
own legi%mate governments!

To read the full ar%cle, visit page number 3 on this link.

IndianLiberals.in is an online library of all Indian liberal wri%ngs, lectures

and other materials in English and other Indian regional languages. The
material that has been collected so far contains liberal commentary da%ng
from the early 19th century %ll the present. The portal helps preserve an oVen
unknown but very rich Indian liberal tradi%on and explain the relevance of the
wri%ngs in today’s context.

Read more: SO Musings: Full Employment and Monetary Policy

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SO Musings: What the Voter Should Know - The Historical Origins of Democracy - Spontaneous Order 11/11/20, 12:04 AM

Spontaneous Order
A peep into modern Indian history by some of the finest liberal minds, who sought to shred the banality of
pseudo-socialism in Independent India. In a country dominated by false poli%cal values, which had, in fact, no
basis of existence neither in the independence movement or the na%ve soil, SO brings out the dynamics of a
poli%cal order that could have changed the country forever.

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