{"id":3533,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/trends-in-electoral-behaviour\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:31:54","slug":"trends-in-electoral-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/trends-in-electoral-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Trends in electoral behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a>\u203a<\/span>Trends in electoral behaviour<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n

Trends in electoral behaviour<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 10<\/b> \u2014 Party System : National and regional political parties, ideological and social bases of parties; Patterns of coalition politics; Pressure groups, trends in electoral behaviour<\/span>; changing socio-economic profile of Legislators.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Electoral Behaviour \u2014 Meaning<\/h3>\n

Voting behaviour<\/span><\/p>\n

The study of how and why voters vote.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe term \u2018voting behaviour\u2019 is not new. But it has been used of late to describe certain areas of study and types of political phenomena which previously had either not been conceived or were considered irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel S. Eldersveld<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

J. K. Plano<\/span> and Riggs<\/span> define it as a field studying how people tend to vote and why. Richard Rose<\/span> and Harve Mossawir<\/span> identify voting functions: choice of rulers, choice of policies, exchange of influence with representatives, allegiance to the constitutional order, possible disaffection and emotional meaning. Mukulika Banerjee<\/span>\u2019s ethnography shows Indian voters treat voting as a citizenship duty, a sacred duty, an inversion of power, revenge, community assertion, the selection and rejection of rulers, and the protection of democracy.<\/p>\n

Determinants of Voting<\/h3>\n

Caste<\/span><\/p>\n

Deep social roots; shapes candidate selection and mobilisation. Mandal raised its electoral salience; urbanisation changes caste voting but does not remove it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPolitics is more important to caste and caste is more essential to politics than previously.\u201d<\/p>\n

W. H. Morris-Jones<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Religion, charisma, money<\/span><\/p>\n

Religion<\/span> shapes mobilisation, candidate selection and issue framing \u2014 the Muslim League, Akali Dal, Hindu Mahasabha, Shiv Sena, BJP and AIMIM show its role. Charisma<\/span>: Jawaharlal Nehru<\/span>, Indira Gandhi<\/span>, Atal Bihari Vajpayee<\/span> and Narendra Modi<\/span>, with slogans such as Garibi Hatao, \u201cIndira means India, India means Indira\u201d and Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi. Money power<\/span> shapes campaign reach, candidate selection and voter contact, and the Election Commission has struggled to fully control expenditure.<\/p>\n

Campaigns, manifestos, economy, media, women<\/span><\/p>\n

Campaigns<\/span> run from rallies, processions and door-to-door contact to posters, radio, television, film personalities, newspapers, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter\/X and digital outreach. Manifestos<\/span> promise welfare, jobs, development and identity protection, and performance against them affects incumbency. Economy and performance<\/span> matter \u2014 prices, jobs, public goods, corruption, inflation, growth, welfare delivery and pocket-book voting; Atul Kohli<\/span> stresses economic performance, and Poonam Gupta<\/span> and Arvind Panagariya<\/span> connect growth with incumbent success. Media<\/span>: Robin Jeffrey<\/span> highlights its role in shaping opinion, with digital campaigns widening information but raising misinformation risks. Women voters<\/span> increasingly make autonomous choices; welfare schemes such as Ujjwala target them and turnout has risen.<\/p>\n

The Changing Indian Voter<\/h3>\n

The Indian voter today votes in greater numbers, is better informed, more performance-conscious, more media-exposed and more open to welfare evaluation, less mechanically tied to caste \u2014 but still shaped by identity.<\/p>\n

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The 2019 result was a \u201cwin of social strong chemistry against caste arithmetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narendra Modi<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Subrata Mitra<\/span> and Singh, in Democracy and Social Change in India<\/em>, argue electoral politics is a tool of democratic social transformation; Yogendra Yadav<\/span> sees voters moving from identity politics to Identity Plus<\/span> politics.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe voting behaviour of Indians is many times more mature than the voting behaviour of voters in Western countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prannoy Roy, Ashok Lahiri & David Butler<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cThe credit for the success of India\u2019s democracy goes to the great common people shown by ordinary voters in India.\u201d<\/p>\n

M. P. Singh<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

State Funding & Electoral Reform<\/h3>\n

State funding<\/span><\/p>\n

Public financial support for parties or candidates.<\/p>\n

In favour<\/span> \u2014 reduces dependence on corporate money, creates a level playing field, checks black money, improves fairness, encourages clean candidates, strengthens democracy. Concerns<\/span> \u2014 may fund non-serious parties, is hard to monitor, may not end private funding, requires strong audit, and burdens the exchequer.<\/p>\n

Committees and reports<\/span> \u2014 Indrajit Gupta Committee<\/span> on State Funding of Elections (1998), the Law Commission Report on Reform of Electoral Laws (1999), the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2001) and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008). A workable middle path: partial state funding, in-kind support, strict audit, transparent donations, spending caps, internal party democracy and strong Election Commission oversight.<\/p>\n

PR, EVMs, the Election Code & Delimitation<\/h3>\n

Proportional representation<\/span> allocates seats in proportion to vote share, encourages smaller parties, helps minorities and dispersed groups and can increase coalition politics. India uses First-Past-The-Post<\/span> for the Lok Sabha and Assemblies; its FPTP has still produced multi-party competition because of social diversity and federalism.<\/p>\n

Electronic Voting Machines<\/span> bring faster counting, fewer invalid votes, less paper handling and logistical efficiency, but trust and transparency concerns require audit mechanisms such as the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. Election Code of Conduct<\/span> revision debates centre on campaign fairness, misuse of state machinery, hate speech, religious appeals, money power, social-media regulation and enforcement capacity.<\/p>\n

Delimitation<\/span><\/p>\n

The adjustment of constituency boundaries and representation.<\/p>\n

India held Delimitation Commissions in 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002. The 42nd Amendment<\/span> (1976)<\/span> froze seat revision; the 84th Amendment<\/span><\/span> extended the freeze until after the first census after 2026. Population growth created disparities \u2014 densely populated and northern states outran southern ones, urban constituencies grew very large, and the value of a vote now differs across states. Population Census-2027<\/span> has revived the debate, raising representation fairness, federal balance, North\u2013South tension, women\u2019s reservation implementation, reserved-seat recalibration and democratic equality.<\/p>\n

Previous<\/em>Pressure groups<\/b><\/a>Next<\/em>Changing socio-economic profile of Legislators<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n

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