The Unknown but Vital Words: ‘Political Literacy’

Interviewer: Well, elections are important.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar: No. Elections are important, provided they produce really good men.

Interviewer: But aren’t they important because they allow you to change a government?

Ambedkar: Yes, but who has the idea, you see, that voting means a change of government?

(BBC Interview, 1955)

The year is 1946. India’s tryst with destiny is shortly expected, but its tryst with democracy has already started. The Constituent Assembly elections cracked open the gates for Indian voices. For the first time, a large part of the nation came forward to elect 229 people who would shape the future of independent India. It is well known and quoted often that  ‘Indians were given the right to vote before we were made citizens!’

Specific voting-related provisions of the Constitution came into force immediately after the Constituent Assembly adopted it on November 26, 1949- a year before the Constitution came into force. This included the provisions related to the Election Commission of India, which took form on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a Republic. 

The Brits had left, but they had left a lot behind, too. India had to move forward, and the ECI had to start somewhere. 

In 1951, before Indians could ink their fingers, the ECI placed democracy at the forefront while confronting some hard facts: 173 million first-time voters aged above 21 years, no singular language and a literacy rate (anglicised version) of just 18.32%. Choosing a government would be the very first step, but it could not happen without basic political literacy. 

Political literacy is the curiosity, knowledge, skills and critical mindset you’d have to understand how our political structures function, know what your rights, responsibilities and duties are as a citizen, and understand one’s role in the governance and politicking of the nation.

So as we set out to hold the first-ever election of an independent India, the ECI utilised every medium of publicity available and set a series of mock elections because it was imperative for the people to know how to vote, what a vote does, and, more importantly- why a vote matters.

Jump to 2025, with over 960 million registered voters, India’s democracy is the largest in the world. But size isn’t everything.  One would assume that political literacy would be, but of course, existent considering the digital tools at our disposal today. That, however, is not the case. 

Did we, as a country, stop at the basics? Considering how only 38% of the first-time voters (18-21 years of age) enrolled themselves in the 2024 General Elections and how 53% of the urban youth said that they had no interest at all in politics in a LokNiti survey. We have to ask ourselves, have we trained our citizenry on the key facets of democracy?

Somewhere along the way, getting a driver’s license became more exciting — and felt more necessary — to 18-year-olds than applying for a Voter ID. What if someone told them that a voter ID could potentially improve the roads they drive on someday? 

 Let’s break it down with three key ideas explaining how we become politically literate. And no, it’s not about arguing on X! 

• Cognitive Mobilization: Think of it like upgrading your brain’s political software. The more you learn and stay engaged—whether it’s watching your everyday debates, reading policies and not just headlines, or just following credible news—the better your political reasoning gets. It’s like training your brain to spot the truth in misinformation.
• Structural Role: This is where your position in society—your job, education, life experiences—shapes how you see politics. A college student might care about fees and getting a good job, while an employee might care about taxes. Your role influences what you care about and how you engage with politics. Yet, interestingly enough, urban voter turnout is 15-20% lower than that of rural voters in local, state, and national elections. Are we caring enough about the closest levels of governance to us, like municipal elections?
• Socialisation agents: You would have to go back to your roots and recall the conversations you’ve had, be it with your family, your teachers, and even that one uncle who always talks politics at every family gathering. They pass down values, ideas, and a general sense of “how things work.”  Sure, some of it sticks, but as you grow up, you might question it, and that’s absolutely normal!

Political literacy is mandated for everyone, not just those with voter IDs or especially not just for your neighbourhood corporators and MLAs. 

So, are you just a part of democracy, or are you actually taking part in it? 

Written by Poorvi S