Dynamics of electroral support for political parties in independent India a case study of Balasore district of Odisha

Abstract

India, the largest democracy of the world has come out successful in conduct of elections through the last 78 years of its independence. The Indian democracy in spite of being often referred as new democracy, its political system and political parties, despite plethora of problems compounded by poverty, illiteracy and deprivation of large mass of populace, have shown rare resilience. The decision of the Constituent Assembly for adult franchise under the system of universal direct suffrage was besides being momentous was also a test for the Indian mind. Political parties perform an important task in making government. They bring people together to achieve control of government, develop policies favorable to their interests or the groups that support them and organize and persuade voters to elect their candidates to office. The main purpose of the present study is to focus on the dynamic nature of electoral support for political parties in Independent India special reference to Balasore district of Odisha. Therefore, drawing on the primary and secondary sources, the objective of the paper, Firstly, to understand in what way stability and shifts in the party support is related to the effective number of parties at the national and state level of Odisha. This will be done by using two indices: Effective Number of Parties index and Volatility Index. Secondly, to examine and analyze the patterns of shifts in party support in Balasore district of Odisha in terms of variables such as age, gender, education, caste, occupation and religion. The ENP and EV indicators play a significant role in this research work. However, the major goal of this research was to determine the stability and shifts in electoral support in India as well as Odisha. This research will provide the necessary inputs for eliminating policy implementation gaps and future policy formation. newline