Elected to Govern and to Oppose: The Democratic Mandate of Opposition Parties in Ensuring Accountability and Inclusive Representation
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Political Opposition##common.commaListSeparator## Accountability Mechanisms##common.commaListSeparator## Inclusive Representation##common.commaListSeparator## Constitutional Equilibrium##common.commaListSeparator## Democratic Legitimacy##article.abstract##
The concept of legitimacy and the relationship between the ruling and the opposition parties is the intended focus of this research paper. It would be a mistake to consider democracies as only legitimizing the rule of the governors. To this endpoint, opposition also legitimizes democracies, as democracies also validate the challengers of executives and oppositional democracies. This paper contends that opposition parties have a parallel electoral mandate, equal to that of a ruling party, justified by the same democracy that authorizes the parties to govern. Considering Robert Dahl’s Polyarchy, Giovanni Sartori’s theory of party systems and Jurgen Habermas’s deliberative democracy as the theoretical foundations, this paper treats the political opposition as an institution constitutionally and morally required to provide checks on accountability and continuous pluralism. It also highlights the role of opposition parties as guardians of minority and marginalized voices and their role in reinforcing inclusive representation. This paper investigates the opposition’s contributions to democracy’s consolidation in established and emerging democracies by examining democracy’s scaffolding, notably legislative scrutiny, the contestation of policies and civic discourse. Ultimately, it argues that a ruling party should never suppress opposition claiming that the citizens have elected ruling party in power. Opposition parties too are elected by the citizens to be in opposition and keep check on arbitrary actions of the government. Acknowledging the opposition as an elected, accountable actor is crucial for maintaining the constitutional equilibrium, controlling arbitrary power and preserving democracy in a form that is responsive and representative to all peoples.
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