Rights group Oxfam on Monday flagged the growing influence of billionaires in politics worldwide, while pointing to India’s reservation system as a “compelling” example of how ordinary citizens can be politically empowered.
Releasing its annual inequality report on the opening day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which draws some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful figures, Oxfam International said billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.
Arguing for building what it called “the power of the many”, Oxfam said people gain political strength in systems where political, institutional and social conditions enhance their ability to influence decision-making despite deep structural inequalities.
“This happens when institutional inclusiveness, political incentives for responsiveness, collective organisation, effective governance and ideological commitments align.
“Non-state actors such as CSOs, grassroots movements and trade unions are natural allies of states in building greater political engagement from under-represented communities, and ensuring access for all to meaningful participation in policymaking,” Oxfam said in the report titled Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power.
The report noted that there are “compelling examples of progress” in addressing this challenge, citing India’s political reservation system.
“In India, for example, political reservations (quotas) for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised groups create opportunities for economically disadvantaged and socially excluded communities to gain legislative representation and push redistributive policies,” Oxfam said.
India provides reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, along with a few other sections, in legislatures in proportion to their population, and has recently announced 33 per cent reservation for women. Beyond these, reservations are also extended to other weaker and marginalised groups in education and government employment.
Oxfam also highlighted Brazil’s experience with Participatory Budgeting, which began in the 1990s and expanded significantly in the 2000s.
“Its most prominent example was the city of Porto Alegre, whose experience became an international reference in participatory democracy by allowing citizens to directly decide on portions of the municipal public budget,” the report said.
The report stressed that governments must ensure an enabling civic space, consistent with international legal frameworks, standards and guidance, to strengthen the political power of ordinary people.
It called on governments to make public commitments to protect and promote freedoms of expression, assembly and association — including online — so that citizens, movements, journalists and organisations can organise, speak out and protest.
Oxfam also urged greater transparency and accountability in upholding these freedoms, regular reporting and scrutiny by both state and non-state actors, and improved access to resources and information for individuals and organisations.