2025, Vol. 7, Issue 3, Part B

Author(s): Maneesh Kumar

Abstract: India’s governance structure is democratic in nature, and elections are very significant in ensuring the effective functioning and stability of the existing structure. Based on federal principles, the union and state governments exist independently in most of the spheres in India. “The Election Commission of India (ECI)”, created in 1950, is responsible for conducting elections for the Lok Sabha (LS) and state assemblies. The elections don’t take place for LS and state assemblies at the same time, thus requiring both extensive human and monetary resources. Since the 1980s, the issue of spending too much resources on conducting elections has surfaced many times, and the idea of conducting simultaneous elections for both LS and state assemblies has been discussed. The idea is often called “One Nation, One Election” and has been propagated to reduce expenditure on the overall election process. The idea comes with several implications, including changes in party strategies, voting behaviour, centre-state relations, and many more. Currently, South Africa, Belgium, Sweden, Indonesia and the Philippines follow the “One Nation, One Election” model. The present paper focuses on the federal implications of the “One Nation, One Election” model if it is adopted in India. While the paper focuses on the Indian perspective, it also analyses the model's functioning in other nations and how it has affected multilevel governance there. The paper is analytical in nature, using comparative analysis and case study methods. It is based on a mixed-method approach using qualitative and quantitative research methods. The paper is based on secondary sources, including scholarly articles, books, government reports, case studies, etc.

DOI: 10.33545/26646021.2025.v7.i3b.473

Pages: 136-142 | Views: 76 | Downloads: 16

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