Democracy against Non-domination: Gandhi and the Reversals of Republicanism

• In Event: Frustrations of Democracy: Historical Perspectives on Resisting Elite Domination

Abstract

In an infamous passage in his Hind Swaraj, Mohandas Gandhi referred to the English parliament, with its interest groups, and constant electioneering, as an entity that is “buffeted about like a prostitute.” Composed in the first decade of the twentieth century, Gandhi’s views on parliamentarism and mass democracy did not change much in the ensuing years. At the same time, Gandhi is rightly credited with bringing the Indian masses into a political movement that had been until then dominated by elite interests. This paper offers one way of unravelling the contradiction at the heart of a Gandhian politics that was simultaneously suspicious of democratic institutions and masterful in directing democratic energies. My suggested solution is to look at Gandhi’s contradictions through the prism of republican politics. As its critics have noted, the danger with parliamentary politics is that it is corrupted by the desire for both money and honors. Republican solutions typically focus on institutional mechanisms to address these issues. Gandhi, on the other hand, shares the same worries, but comes to a drastically different solution to the problem of corruption. Instead of institutional means, Gandhi’s solution focuses on redefining the motive forces that compel individuals away from a concern for material interests and honors and towards a moral concern for the common good. In this way, Gandhi is both an optimist about the possibilities of transformation – what he calls, “the dignity of man” – and deeply pessimistic about the capacity of democratic institutions to effect it.

Author

• Manu Samnotra, University of South Florida