The systematic education of political workers in the theory and practice as also in the attitudes of democracy is one of the most pressing needs of our public life. In the absence of such training, party members can have no clear idea of the type of society visualized by the philosophy and programme of the party, nor can specific issues be examined in the light of their implications for other issues as well as for the goal set for itself by the party. For both ability to think clearly and the knowledge of facts on the basis of which thought can fruitfully proceed can come only as the result of sustained and disciplined study. The unity that is rooted in common understanding can alone survive and give to the worker a grip over the complex and ever-changing modern situation. Where no such unity exist, parties become gangs of self-seekers, leaders degenerate into ringleaders and loyalty to the professed principles and programme of the party is replaced by loyalty to personalities. That this is undesirable for the political life of the country is obvious. Not many seem to realize that it is also the cause of factionalism within the party and may in course of time lead to its total disintegration. Such a danger is common to all democratic parties in India. For in the absence of indoctrination, rational understanding alone can provide the sustenance for ideals and the cementing bond for its individual members. The danger is all the greater for a party in power for reasons that need no mention here. For example, who would be surprised if efforts are made within the next two years to send some of the most successful and popular chief ministers to Delhi or along the Sampurnanand way ? And who would deny that if the efforts fail, that would be due not so much to the ideological cohesion and emotional integration of the party members as to the manoevering skill of the persons concerned ?
IV. The Pattern of Political Education
If the importance of the political education of party cadres is appreciated at its real worth, the next question is: What would be the pattern of such education ? The answer would be determined by the ideal of the party and the empirical situation in which it is sought to be realized. The ideal of the democratic parties in India has been succinctly formulated as democratic socialism. In this connection it is necessary to clarify an ambiguity, which may otherwise distort the entire perspective of our effort. Socialism, in its popularly known economic aspect, emerged as an instrument of democracy. The realization that unrestricted right of ownership in the means of production resulted in brutal exploitation and even the denial of human decencies led nineteenth-century thinkers to imagine that abolition of private property would usher in an age of liberty and equality for all. That assumption has been proved false, indeed dangerous to freedom and equality themselves, in the twentieth century.