Responsiveness and responsibility, imperative

In 2009, Irish political scientist, Peter Mair argued that while it is ‘desirable’ that parties in government are both responsive and responsible, these two characteristics are now becoming increasingly incompatible; and the traditional gap, wider and unmanageable. He diagnosed it as one of the principal sources of the democratic malaise confronting many contemporary Western representative democracies. 


Highlighting several exogenous and endogenous constraints resulting in such an outcome, Mair cautioned that if left unchecked, the consequences for representative government are likely to be “very severe.”
In Nagaland, forget the widening gap, one wonders whether the concept of responsive and responsible government exists, in the true sense of the words. 


The ongoing week-long campaign by the Public Action Committee’s (PAC) of the Naga Council Dimapur (NCD) ‘against illegal taxation at the check-posts in Dimapur’ is a case in point. The drastic measure by the PAC was undertaken due to apparent government’s inaction to rein in “illegal taxations” imposed by various state and non-state actors, despite the issue being a recurring theme in the recent past. 


Several anomalies were reportedly detected during the first three-day of the campaign. 


Among others, collections of toll tax by municipal council were markedly over and above the prescribed rates while there was lack of monitoring by a concerned government agency to check quality of livestock being imported to the state. The designated quarantine check post of the Veterinary & Animal Husbandry for inspecting livestock and poultry entering the state was found without any personnel while PAC members alleged that the police at the check gates were “acting holy, refusing money from the transporters” confounding even the payees. 


Most interestingly, the departments of Forests and Geology & Mining were allegedly collecting taxes separately for same items. This is highly disconcerting as the issue of tussle between the two departments on the rights over collecting revenue/royalty on minor minerals has been brewing for couple of years, necessitating several sittings and the issue was presumed to be resolved. On taxation by Naga Political Groups, the PAC said that it did not encounter any so far, but does not rule out the same. 


On each count, it was informed FIR and representation were effected; and at least, the issues seem to have been resolved momentarily, with each department promising to put their house in order, after a reported confidence-building measures initiated by Dimapur Deputy Commissioner. 


The findings further draw out the question of responsiveness and responsible government on issues to the fore and put under scanner whether the rule of law has any bearing in the state.  Simply put, the rule of laws are rules made by local or national government in democratic societies; and the governments, those in power as well as the citizen are subjected to these rules. However, when such rules are perceived to have failed or ineffective, citizen’s tendency to remediation increases manifold. Often, such initiatives many veer into the territory of negative vigilantism, in an attempt to serve justice, either inadvertently or by design.

     
In research paper published last year, Jonas Linde and Yvette Peters of University of Bergen argued that when governments are seen as responsive they build a “buffer” of support, allowing them to make decisions that are not necessarily responsive but possibly responsible. 


“By being responsive, governments build a reservoir of goodwill, which they can use to survive more difficult periods,” they suggested. 


While citizen’s initiatives are appreciated, the measures are provisional and the government cannot sidetrack its responsibility and responsiveness to issues pertaining the state. The ongoing campaign should serve as a wake-up call for the government and it is imperative that it sustains the momentum and start building trust by implementing existing rules and regulations with accountability and augmenting areas, where there are deficiencies.