Has democracy ended human suffering, a task that the political system set out for itself? Or is democracy incompatible with modernity and, therefore, fails to achieve human well-being? If so, are we left with any option? The book asks these acutely political questions and states emphatically that democracy has failed to ensure the well-being of humanity as a whole. Further, it tries to answer this by exploring the Gandhian alternative to modernism and democracy in contemporary times. In the words of the authors themselves, ‘We are aware that in a world divided into a number of ideological camps, the way out suggested in this book will invite ridicule and accusation of orthodoxy. However, the truth has to be told, no matter what the reaction.

Contents: Introduction. 1. Transformation of Order: Two Examples. 2. Modernism and Democracy: Twin Props of the Autonomous Self. 3. Democracy: The Case of Moral Deficit. 4. Democracy: Myth and Reality. 5. Fault Line of Democracy. 6. Making Sense of Social Justice. 7. The Elusive Search for Community. 8. Back to the Roots. 9. Philosophical Background of Gandhi’s Thinking. 10. Gandhi’s Critique of Democracy. 11. Local Democracy: Jefferson and Gandhi. 12. Sarvata: Modern Man in Search of Wholeness.