PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Party System & Electoral Politics
The changing socio-economic profile of our legislators does not augur well for the health of Indian democracy. Comment.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
=-®X!_~_ Burke's microcosm = the yardstick → judge the change against it → verdict: social gain, economic-criminal danger R2 “does not augur well” only half-true → social widening deepens democracy; money + crime weaken its quality
Body flow
widening recruitment pool → OBC / backward-caste entry ends upper-caste + lawyer + foreign-educated dominance → Yadav: plebeianization / democratic upsurge → House nearer Burke's microcosm → but presence ~ responsiveness for lower orders → upper castes still over-represented, women ~14%, Muslims below share → turn to economic-criminal profile → crorepati dominance (93% above %1 cr) → wealth filters entry → ADR: ~46% of 18th LS face criminal cases → Vaishnav (When Crime Pays): costly elections + local problem-solvers → SC: termite to democracy
Counter-view
against the pessimism → social broadening is a genuine democratic gain (microcosm met, Yadav's upsurge) → threat lies not in who enters but in money + crime
Conclusion routes
*®!'_—~«Statement half-true → social broadening augurs well; money-and-crime capture does not R2_ keep the widening, curb the muscle + money that distort it → representation must become responsiveness
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
