#90 "Politics is the Art of the Possible"

This newsletter is really a weekly public policy&#160;thought-letter. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought-letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. It seeks to answer just one question:&#160;how do I think about a particular public policy problem/solution?<br/><br/>PS: If you enjoy listening instead of reading, we have this edition available as an audio narration courtesy the good folks at&#160;<a href="https://www.ad-auris.com/">Ad-Auris</a>. If you have any feedback, please send it to us.<br/><br/>PolicyWTF:&#160;One Nation, One Election<br/><br/>This section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?<br/><br/>&#8212; Pranay Kotasthane<br/><br/>The series &#8220;One Nation, One X&#8221;, like another sitcom Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, doesn&#8217;t seem to end. The latest season of the series is titled One nation, One election (ONOE). <br/><br/>PM Narendra Modi has batted for this idea on many occasions before. In his latest pitch, he said:<br/><br/>Elections are held at different places every few months, the impact it has on development works is known to all. Therefore, it is a must to have deep study and deliberation on &#8216;One Nation, One Election&#8217;.<br/><br/>This speech apart, the most robust defence of ONOE comes from a NITI Aayog <a href="https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Note%20on%20Simultaneous%20Elections.pdf">discussion paper</a> by Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai. They cite <a href="https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Note%20on%20Simultaneous%20Elections.pdf">four reasons</a>. Let us investigate the top two.<br/><br/>Reason #1: Imposition of Model Code of Conduct by the Election Commission derails development programs and governance<br/><br/>According to this view, political parties, once in power, are brimming with development id