Democracy Needs Healthy Countervailing Power

Countervailing power denotes the ability of alternative poles of power in balancing the ruling power so that no one dominates the other and each adjusts to the other's lawful interests. It can check, control and shape the conduct of commanding power of the party-government if found not performing well in public interests. The countervailing power refers to the courts, media, civil society, social struggles and people’s associations, federations and unions who have the ability to restrain the command power of ruling classes and their propensity to act arbitrarily, if not disciplined by the constitution and civic power. The countervailing civic power increases the leverage of people to codetermine policies in the public and national interests, increases the accountability of commanding power and frees people from coercion and undue pressure.