Dilemma of Participation of Middle Class in Indian Democracy

Abstract

Indian electorate consists of a heterogeneous mix of classes, castes, regions, linguistic and religious groups. In this set of multifarious sub-groups, continuously striving for their due shares in the developmental process and democratic system, the existence of the middle class is likely to thoroughly get diluted, whether it be in the political manifestos and government schemes. On the other hand, it is alleged that this class itself does not actively participate either in democracy or developmental process. This article aims to examine whether this impugned class is actually demotivated to participate or in general dormant in the matters of democracy. An analysis of research papers, reports and articles has been done to examine this dilemma along with analysing the reasons and dynamics of this dormancy from multiple perspectives. The article concludes that there is a rise of a ‘New middle-class’ in the present era which seeks to actively take part in democracy and in the course of time, a considerable number of people from the middle class have started voting prudently, ignoring the mere short-term benefits or social divisions which earlier used to be the prime guiding forces for them. Therefore, the article prompts plausible policy and legislative decisions on matters such as health, education and employment, which will persuade the middle class to actively engage and create an inclusive democracy.