Pressure Groups in Indian Politics: A Study of Anna Hazare Movement for Instituting Lokpal
| Date | 01 July 2015 |
| Author | Rajani Ranjan Jha |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120150313 |
| Published date | 01 July 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
PRESSURE GROUPS IN INDIAN POLITICS: A STUDY
OF
ANNA HAZARE MOVEMENT
FOR
INSTITUTING
LOKPAL
RAJANI
RANJAN
JHA
Pressure groups in recent times have been playing a very crucial
role
in
strengthening democracy
and
influencing decisions
of
public policy in India. Since the paradigm shift from government
to
governance
and
forther to
good
governance, pressure groups
have emerged as a strong mechanism
for
making the democracy
participatory, transparent, accountable
and
responsive.
With
the same motif, Anna Hazare
had
launched an anti-corruption
movement
for
passing a legislation regarding the Jan Lokpal
in India. The movement commenced with a hunger strike by
Anna
Hazare in 2011
and
later continued through protests
by
Team Anna
and
gained the support
of
people from a major
section
of
the society. The movement
by
Anna
and
his team
is the first one in India to force the government
for
instituting
the office
of
Lokpal in India. This effort brings out the essence
of
democracy in the best possible
form
in which pressure
group(s) can influence the making
of
public policy. The article
is a humble effort to discuss the role
of
Anna Hazare
and
his
movement including its methods
as
a pressure group
for
the
passing
of
the Lokpallegislation in India.
PRESSURE GROUPS are supposed
to
be a normal phenomenon in any
democratic society. The earlier presupposition
of
thinkers
of
state and
democracy that the interests
of
the people living in any political society
wi11
be channelised through the medium
of
political parties proved to be
inadequate with the nature
of
society and polity getting more and more
complex as society progressed.
As
a natural consequence, therefore, the
interest and pressure groups came into play as a phenomenon
of
group or
collective action outside the normal political parties to influence the public
policy and I or public opinion. In a globalised world
of
the post-Cold War
era many shifts have taken place in the discourse on state and democracy,
democracy and development, state and civil society, state and market
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