publisher Universidad del Rosario
type info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
title Push button parliament?why India needs a non-partisan, recorded vote system
subject India, recorded votes, anti-defection, political parties, comparative constitutional law, parliamentary procedure,
division, voice-votes, Tenth Schedule, accountability.
source Annuaire Colombien de Droit International - ACDI; Vol. 4 (2011): ANUARIO COLOMBIANO DE DERECHO
INTERNACIONAL - ACDI; 163-241
source 2027-1131
source 2145-4493
source Colombian Yearbook of International Law - CYIL; Vol. 4 (2011): ANUARIO COLOMBIANO DE DERECHO
INTERNACIONAL - ACDI; 163-241
source Anuario Colombiano de Derecho Internacional - ACDI; Vol. 4 (2011): ANUARIO COLOMBIANO DE DERECHO
INTERNACIONAL - ACDI; 163-241
rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
relation http://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/acdi/article/view/2052/1819
language spa
format application/pdf
description Decisions of national importance are made by Parliamentary voting. Yet Indian Members of Parliament (MPs) vote
with a remarkable lack of freedom and accountability. The introduction of the Tenth Schedule in the Constitution has
crippled free expression, since it provides that MPs voting against ?any direction? of their Party are liable to
disqualification from the legislature In addition, except for Constitutional amendments, Indian Parliamentary
Procedure Rules do not require votes of MPs to be recorded unless the Speaker?s decision is contested in the House.
The result is that voting in the House has become mechanical, controlled by Party politics and devoid of responsibility.
suggests that the voting system adopted in the Parliament is an effective indicator to measure the level of
accountability of its Members. In the context of India, this paper argues that the level of accountability will increase to a
desirable extent only when there is adoption of a recorded system for every important House vote. Upon examination
of India?s record thus far (through the sample of the 14th Lok Sabha) it becomes evident that the level of divisions
(recorded votes) is substantially lower than other countries. This leads the paper to probe, as to why that might be the
case. Part II of the paper answers that question by examining the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The paper
scrutinizes the disproportionate influence of the Party in decision making in the Parliament. Apart from dealing with the
inherent problem of the Tenth Schedule, this paper suggests two procedural changes to make parliamentary
expression more meaningful. Firstly, the recording of all important votes within the Parliament and secondly,
registering Party whips with the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs so that the voter knows the clear stand of every
Parliamentary continuum. The focus of the paper is thus to bring back the attention of the legislators to their central
function, which is deliberation on and the passage of legislation.
identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10336/6414
identifier http://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/acdi/article/view/2052
date.available 2014-07-08T22:02:47Z
date.accessioned 2014-07-08T22:02:47Z
date 2011-12-31
