Topic: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
3. India’s political system needs to better reflect its social and cultural character and hence we must move towards a better alternative than the existing first past the post(FPTP) system to choose our representatives. Critically analyse. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The question before India, given its diversity and size, is whether there should be a reform of our electoral system to ensure greater legitimacy to the government in power.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the limitation of the FPTP system and suggest alternatives.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by giving a brief about the existing FPTP system.
Body:
Write about the FPTP system, its merits and demerits. Argue as to why FPTP is considered not truly democratic and inclusive. Back up your arguments with relevant stats and data.
Next, write about the alternatives such as Proportional Representation and German Model etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
