What If India Had Adopted Proportional Representation Like South Africa?

In this video, we explore a compelling Raghav's Take that revisits an important 'what-if' question: What if India had built its democratic system on Proportional Representation (PR), like South Africa did in 1994? After the end of apartheid, South Africa faced violent ethnic conflict, deep political divisions, and existential fear—much like India did at the time of independence. Yet, its negotiated transition embraced a proportional system that ensured representation for multiple groups and avoided winner-takes-all outcomes. We break down: • What Proportional Representation (PR) means and how it worked in South Africa • How the 1994 elections brought inclusive outcomes and power-sharing • Why India chose the First Past the Post (FPTP) system instead • Whether India’s democracy would look different today under PR • Key lessons for electoral reform and representative politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices