State and Government in Ancient India c13.18

c13.18

It can be at once conceded that the *gaṇa* states of the Yaudheyas and the Śākyas, the Mālavas and the Lichchavis were not democracies or republics in the sense in which we understand these words today. Supreme and ultimate power did not lie vested in the whole body of adult citizens, as is the case with most of the well developed modern democracies. We can, however, still describe these states as republics. Standard works and authorities on the political science define republic as a state, where the sovereign power vests, not in a single person as in monarchy, but in a group or college of persons, more or less numerous. Oligarchies, aristocracies and democracies have all been labelled as republics. Thus Sparta, Athence, Rome, medieval Venice, the United Netherlands and Poland have all been described as republics, though none of them possessed that full democratic character, which we are at present inclined to consider as the most distinguishing feature of a republic. In the republics of ancient Greece and Rome, the franchise was confined to a small minority, who governed a vast majority, consisting of slaves as well as persons like mechanics and artisans who were personally free and yet had no franchise. Democracy was a reality only with reference to the small class of full fledged citizens, and not the whole population. In the medieval republic of Venice, after the closing of the council, the franchise was confined to a strictly limited aristocracy, which itself was dominated by a small oligarchy. The republic of the Seven States of Netherlands was no doubt governed by an elected Stateholder, but he was raised to that position by the votes of a very small body of burghers, who only had the franchise. And even in modern times in the U.S.A. millions of Negroes had no franchise for a long time and England had a number of pocket boroughs till the middle of the 19th century. In the 20th century France, nearly half the population has no franchise, for women in that country cannot yet vote in elections.