Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System

About this chapter

Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System is the fifth chapter of Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond Part 1, in the Governance and Democracy section. It explains how India, from the very outset, adopted universal adult franchise — the right of every citizen aged 18 and above to one vote of equal value, irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion, gender, education or income (Article 326 of the Constitution). The chapter covers the Constitution makers' bold decision (despite 14% literacy in 1947), the 1988 lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18, the 2024 Lok Sabha election scale (980 million voters, 543 constituencies, 1 million polling stations, 84 SC and 47 ST reserved seats), the role of the Election Commission of India (set up 1950, first general election 1951-52, structure with CEC and two Election Commissioners), the Model Code of Conduct (adopted in Kerala 1960, ECI proactive since 1991), the four-step voting process at the booth with EVMs, VVPAT and NOTA, T.N. Seshan's reforms, and the elections to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha (indirect, single transferable vote, 245 members), the President and the Vice President. CTET Paper 2 SST tests this chapter through fact-recall on Article 326, ECI's tasks, dates and reserved seats; through cause-effect items on indirect elections and First-Past-the-Post; and through pedagogy items on the Suryodaya School class-rep caselet. The four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover the chapter at CTET depth.