Aim

The workshop aims to comprehensively develop a working definition of the rule of law, including various dimensions for the all India survey to capture the youth Perception of the Rule of Law in India.

Introduction

The youth population plays a significant role in national building all over the world. Their belief in the political system and the processes will get translated into voluntary political obligation over a period of time. Their perception of the political system and its functioning is influenced by personal experience and larger opinion formation at civil society spaces.  The functioning of political institutions, prevailing political culture, socio-economic and gender factors play a significant role in youth perception. The youth perception of the rule of law, which includes mechanisms, practices, and constitutional values regarding equality of citizens and fair use of government power without much bias, plays an important role in shaping their political obligation towards the state.  Thus along with the existence of the rule of law, there should be a belief among the people regarding its existence. However, any threat to their perception of the rule of law will weaken their political obligation and lead to more instability. This project will attempt to capture the youth perception of the rule of law from different dimensions in India, covering major geographical areas.

In collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Foundation, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) will carry out this project. 

Background to the Research Project

Constitutionalism and the rule of law play a significant role in creating and sustaining political order in all modern democratic societies. As Joseph Raz, legal-political philosopher has said, "In curtailing arbitrary power and in securing a well-ordered society, subject to accountable, principled government, lies the value of the rule of law"; the rule of law reflects the institutionalized Constitutional norms and values for an inclusive and enabling political state. The significant principle of the rule of law includes accountability, just law, open government and impartial justice. The state should ensure its accountability for all its legislative and executive actions, and in the contemporary neoliberal political economy, the state should ensure the accountability of private players' actions, which impact common people and their livelihood. 

Just law is not only about satisfying the majority interest but also about protecting the minority interest.  Just law should be fair and inclusive in strengthening the political integration for overall development. Transparency, the cornerstone of the modern governance system, is much needed for effective citizen participation in the governing process. The right to Information act 2005 and other electoral reforms in India during the 21st century has laid a strong foundation for open government. The peaceful sustenance of a political society requires the settlement of disputes and impartial interpretation of the law for the benefit of all sections of the population. In many situations, timely justice can significantly reduce or stop new conflicts from emerging. Thus impartial justice system plays a major role in strengthening constitutional democracy for the betterment of all. Thus the political stability and sustainable growth of every state require proper functioning of the rule of law.

Along with the rule of law, the citizens' belief in law plays an essential role in political stability. The origin of state theories from John Locke has emphasized that people's consent is the foundation of the modern political state. People's consent is closely tied with their obligation towards the state and fellow citizens. As political obligation cannot be forced upon the citizens, the consent of people, to a larger extent, is being influenced by their perception of the rule of law. Citizens' perception regarding unlimited powers of government, absence of corruption, transparent government, protection of fundamental rights, law and order, regulatory mechanism, fair Justice System etc., plays an important role in strengthening their political obligation. Citizens' perception reflects a larger extent the constitutional functioning of the state and its acceptance. This project will capture young citizens' perception of the rule of law to comprehend India's nature and commitment towards political obligation. The factors influencing the perception of youth, like socio-economic conditions, geographical location etc., will be captured in the research process.

The Main Idea of the Research Project

The political culture, which includes shared views, normative judgments and opinion formation about the political system, starts from childhood through our family, educational institution and neighbourhood. However, independent critical evaluation of our opinions about socio-political issues happens during the adolescent period.  Along with educational institutions, youth autonomy during this period to engage freely and critically with different political ideas reorients their belief system to a larger extent.  

Nevertheless, in the Indian context, primitive social linkages and values still play a dominant role in opinion formation. Such opinion formation during the adolescent period will have a long term impact in shaping their attitudes and behaviour towards the political society. The youth population in India has drastically increased from 168 Million in 1971 to 423 Million in 2011, witnessing around a 4 per cent growth rate. The youth in India between 15 and 24 years constitutes around 19.1 per cent of India's population. According to United Nations, India has the highest youth population between the ages 10 and 24. The youth constituting a significant share in population, their perception about the rule of law will be of great significance to understand the nature of political obligation in India.

This research project aims to capture youth's perception in India between 18 and 24 years of age about the rule of law. The project will comprehensively define the rule of law, considering various dimensions like legal, political, economic, caste, religion, gender, human rights, and environment. Based on the developed definition, the proposed survey will try to capture the perception of youth about the rule of law from different dimensions. The survey will capture the youth perception from different geographical locations on an all India basis to have a comprehensive understanding. Various socio-economic factors influence an individual perception, and the proposed research will consider the family's social and occupational background, educational background, income level, wealth status, and geographical locality of the sample.

Key Takeaways:

The workshop to develop a working definition of the rule of law in India was held on 29th September 2021 at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road (BGR) Campus, Bangalore. The participants of this workshop were

• Prof Amita Dhanda, NALSAR
• Prof Babu Mathews, NLSIU
• Prof Surajit Mazumdar, JNU
• Prof Sairam Bhatt, NLSIU
• Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, JNU
• Dr Lakshmanan, MIDS
• Dr Manjur Ali, GIDS
• Dr Sowjanya, TISS

Based on their presentation and deliberation, they have developed certain important broad areas to be included while understanding the youth perception of the rule of law in India.

The Constitutional framework in India is the basis for the rule of law, and it envisages equality before the law, equality of opportunity and abolition of untouchability.So the political, social, and economic equality/inequality gives us a larger understanding of the rule of law.

Not just the discrimination but also cultural privileges based on ascriptive status are against the Constitutional value of the rule of law. Thus, any type of cultural privilege, based on caste, religion, gender, language or ethnicity, would favour a particular section and alienate the others. This will address the inclusion and exclusion aspects of the rule of law. Thus it needs to be understood for comprehending the rule of law in India.

As Dr Ambedkar emphasised during the CA debates that Constitutional Morality ensures political obligation and freedom, and the rule of law as envisaged in the Constitution will be meaningless if the agency that realises the will of the Constitution fails in the implementation at ground level. Thus the institutional performance about the realisation of Constitutional values becomes an important area for us to understand. Thus, understanding the functioning of the executive, legislature, and judiciary regarding political obligation and freedom becomes an important arena for deepening our understanding of the rule of law. The institutional performance could include environmental regulation, policy formulation and implementation, law and order, adjudication etc.

The present neoliberal regime has opened up the space for more private players. Along with the expansion of private players, the public sector is slowly shrinking and moving towards more governance aspects. However, based on the positive liberal ideological framework, the Indian Constitution envisages a welfare state based on social justice. Thus the various aspects of social justice, such as reservation in education, employment, access to natural resources/facilities for deprived groups etc., are important to understand the rule of law in India.

The areas mentioned above overlap in certain aspects, but it gives us broad direction in identifying variables, which will fall within the broader domain of the rule of law. The project focuses only on capturing the youth perception in these broader areas regarding the rule of law in India.

Based on the developed theoretical orientation of the definition of the rule of law in workshop-I, workshop-II will aim to develop an appropriate methodology to conduct a study based on all India survey data.