Does Nudging in Public Policies Harm Citizens’ Democratic Freedom? A Critical Evaluation of Behavioural Public Policies in India

Abstract

Abstract

To err is human, but the incidence of errors can be controlled by proper guidance and action. Success stories proliferating worldwide vouch that applying Behavioural Economics and nudges in public policies can give significant payoffs. However, a criticism levelled against these is that the citizens’ ability to evaluate and judge a piece of information comes from the policy only and nowhere else. The questions to address in this context are: Are Indian nudges manipulating the citizens’ behaviour? Is their guidance aimed only at the citizens’ welfare? What is the outcome of nudges if it creates a big societal gap in terms of information between informed people and uninformed people? Are the policymakers exploiting the citizens using inequality of information? The nudgers may have their own agenda and their nudges have the effect of polarising citizens and undermining the potential of a democratic society. The nudges have the power to cause damage to the epistemic value of the democratic process. Hence, this paper discusses the violations of fundamental principles of behavioural nudges in Indian policymaking. We suggest that a policy framework be put in place in India to regulate the use of nudges.

Keywords: Nudges, Nudging, Democracy, Behavioural Economics, Rationality, Herding Bias, Manipulation