Democracy rests on building civic capacities-- cognitive, practical and participatory-- of people so that they believe that their behaviour affects the course of governance. The nation-wide election for local self-governance slated for May 13 in Nepal is the right time to build their capacity for correct reasoning, choice and activities especially because many political parties in the fray seek to pull them in various directions and offer scintillating promises, even something unjust, as a vote-catching strategy, not democracy promoting mobilisation and positive action at the grassroots level. The more the people feel that they are well heard and attended to by candidates, the better they become active in political life and acquire knowledge of selecting representative authority for self-governance.
