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Votebank (also spelled vote-bank or vote bank), in the political discourse of India, is a term referring to a loyal bloc of
voters Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holder ...
from a single
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
, who consistently back a certain
candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...
or political formation in democratic
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
. Such behavior is often the result of an expectation of benefits, whether real or imagined, from the political formations, often at the cost of other communities. Votebank politics is the practice of creating and maintaining votebanks through divisive policies. As it encourages voting on the basis of self-interest of certain groups, often against their better judgement, it is considered harmful to the principles of
representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
. Here, community may be of a caste,
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
,
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
, or subnation.


Etymology

The term was first used by noted Indian sociologist, M. N. Srinivas in his 1955 paper entitled ''The Social System of a Mysore Village''. He used it in the context of political influence exerted by a patron over a client. Later, the expression was used by F. G. Bailey, a professor of
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
, in his 1959 book ''Politics and Social Change'', to refer to the
electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
influence of the caste leader. This is the usage that has since become popular.


Examples

Some of the first identified votebanks were along caste lines. Others based on other community characteristics, such as
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
, have also occurred. Votebanks are generally considered undesirable in electoral politics. For example, argues that votebanks based on either caste or religion stand in the way of secularisation. identifies accusations of votebanking as a rhetorical tool used by Hindu nationalists in complaints about special rights or privileges granted to non-Hindus in India. Other examples include: *In 1989, the Badaga people of South India petitioned the Indian government to be recognized as an official tribe, demonstrating ''en masse'' on 15 May of that year to imply the strength of the Badaga votebank.


Remedy

Some argue that the Votebank politics can be disabled by limiting the provisions of Tenth Schedule of
Indian Constitution The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
to a few critical issues.


See also

*
Ethnocultural politics in the United States Ethnocultural politics in the United States (or ethnoreligious politics) refers to the pattern of certain cultural or religious groups to vote heavily for one party. Groups can be based on ethnicity (such as Hispanics, Irish, Germans), race (Whites ...
*
Client politics Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuabl ...
* Clientelism * Constituency *
Indian politics Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary democratic secular republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the prime minister of India is t ...
*
Identity politics Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
*
Electoral system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...
*
Political campaigning A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
*
Social disintegration Societal collapse (also known as civilizational collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence. Possible causes ...
* Blocks of Five *
Red states and blue states Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


Further reading

* Shourie, Arun (2012). Falling over backwards: An essay on reservations and judicial populism. New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers. * Syed Ali Mujtaba
‘Monolith India’ and the vote bank
''Himal South Asian'', 2004 {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2019 Political terminology in India Elections in India Identity politics in India Muslim politics in India