M.N ROY AND THE CRISIS OF INDIA'S PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY

M.N. Roy’s views on democracy is very closely associated with his notion of New Humanism. By drawing from his practical experiences, he came to realise that the parliamentary democracy so widely debated and practised in India during his times, lacks the true spirit of democracy. He blamed the party system prevalent in India’s parliamentary democracy for all the contemporary evils. Political parties as intermediaries between the people and the state tend to negate the very spirit of democracy. He strongly argued that parliamentary democracy ignores the two most important democratic virtues of freedom and sovereignty of man. Thus, he suggested his own alternative conception of Organised Democracy where man will be able to enjoy true freedom and thus shall become the master of his own destiny. To him, an Organised Democracy shall witness the true convergence of the great democratic ideals of freedom, justice and popular sovereignty.