ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at Mahatma Gandhi visualized a democratic polity. A 'centralized democracy', functioning only through elected representatives who exercise political power which really belongs to people, and ruling the whole country or the sate sitting in its capital, was a self-contradiction in terms, as per Gandhi's political philosophy. Only a decentralised democracy could provide a 'government of the people, by the people and for the people', using Abraham Lincoln's definition of democracy. In fact, the very concept of the government was different in Gandhian perspective. Gandhi was practical enough to realize the limitations of an extremely localized, isolated and entirely village-based economy or polity. An important issue in decentralised democracy is the role of political parties. The advantage of a village community in being the basic unit for an alternative political system is that every individual knows everyone else, and can conveniently discuss all matters which concern the livelihood and welfare of all villagers.
