In a democratic setup, it is neither necessary nor possible for people to govern themselves or others directly. Hence, the most commonly found form of democracy in present times is the election of the representatives from among the people to govern. To elect the representatives, elections are necessary and useful in a democracy. 

Elections: It is a device via which people in a democracy can exercise their will of choosing their representatives for governing them at regular intervals and bring about a change if they wish to do so. Elections can lead to changes in the policy of the government. 

Need of Elections

Why do we even need elections? Won’t it be easy to make one’s own decision, do whatever one wants? India is a democratic country which means people have the right to make decisions they want for themselves. So what about taking important decisions for the whole country? Is it possible for the whole population to sit together and make decisions every day? This is the reason we need a mechanism that allows people to choose their representatives from time to time. Here are some more reasons why we need elections in the first place.  

• To set up law and order: A standard individual is inconceivable without races assuming that every individual can sit together and take every one of the choices; however, this is neither possible in a large community like ours nor is it possible for everyone to have the time and knowledge to make decisions on all matters.  Hence, to maintain rules and regulations, one chooses their representatives who in turn can make the desirable decisions for the population.
• To give voters various choices such as:
  • Choosing who will make laws for them
  • Choosing who will form the government and take major decisions
  • Choosing the party whose policies will guide the government and lawmaking.Minimum Conditions for a Democratic election

Elections are held in many ways in different countries. All democratic, as well as non-democratic countries, hold elections. But how do we distinguish a democratic election from a non-democratic one?

• The first and foremost thing which differentiates a democratic election from a non-democratic one is that every person should have the right to vote with every vote having equal value. This would grant people an equal right to choose as every person would have only one vote
• The second difference is Real choices: Every party and their candidate must be free from any external influence in order to provide free and fair choices to the public
• The third difference is elections at regular intervals: Elections should be held routinely after every few years to keep a check on the efficiency of the ruling party
• The fourth difference is choice: Only the candidate favoured by the majority of people must be elected
• The last difference between a democratic election and a non-democratic one is that in democratic elections, people are free to choose according to their will, and elections are conducted in a fair and free manner

Elections are mostly all about political competition which takes various forms. The most prevalent and observed form of competitiveness can be seen among the political parties contesting an election. At the level of a constituency, it becomes an intense competition among the candidates contesting against each other. 

Demerits of electoral competition

During elections, competition takes various forms. The most obvious and wanted form of competition is the one we see at the constituency level. This competition isn’t bad as it is the whole point of an election. However, elections do have their own demerits. Some of the demerits of electoral competition are

• Every locality seems to be divided and emanate an aura of disunity and factionalism
• Party-politics:  A common practice being observed during elections is the use of underhanded tactics by parties and candidates to get an upper hand in the elections
• It is often observed that a long-drawn unhealthy atmosphere of competition deters good and honest people from participating in the elections. At times the idea of winning the election dominates the idea of development and effective policy formulation

Conclusion

We can conclude that India is a democratic country and the elections are free and fair here. The party or candidate wins an election only when people choose them. However, in some places or constituencies, elections may shift from an ideal situation to reality, as a candidate may win based on money or relations. However, the final verdict still reflects the choice of the population. It is important to set up a framework where political pioneers are compensated for serving individuals and rebuffed for not doing as such by individuals. That is the reason free contest in races was picked. It works better in the long run.