• The word “democracy” has many meanings in ordinary language, everyday life, practical politics, and scholarly discourse.

• One of the most common definitions of democracy is majority rule, though it is widely recognized as inadequate due to the possibility of a tyranny of the majority.

• The Cold War period reflected a geopolitical struggle over differing conceptions of democracy, with one side supporting proletarian, socialist, Marxist, or economic democracy, and the other advocating for liberal, individualist, or political democracy.

• Scholars have not alleviated this issue, as the scientific investigation of democracy led to the proliferation of diverse theories.

• The emergence of various theories makes it unclear whether one can genuinely lament the situation, as doing so would assume a majoritarian and consensus-oriented view of scientific progress, thus begging the very question of democracy.

• Mosca had his own conception of democracy, seeing it as a relationship between rulers and ruled, where the ruling class is open to the influx of individuals from the ruled class, though he acknowledged the existence of other conceptions of democracy.

• It would be unrealistic to expect a single, unified conception of democracy in Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks.

• Despite this, the most significant notion of democracy for Gramsci is the Moschian conception of democracy, which he frequently refers to.

• Gramsci’s main concern is not to theoretically articulate the Moschian conception of democracy but rather to apply it in his analysis.

The Most Realistic and Concrete Meaning of Democracy

• One of Gramsci’s most striking and neglected passages is entitled “Hegemony and Democracy”, where he defines the most realistic and concrete meaning of democracy.

• Gramsci connects democracy with the concept of hegemony. In an hegemonic system, democracy exists between the leading group and the led groups, to the extent that economic development and legislation favor the transition of individuals from the led groups to the leading group.

• He mentions that in the Roman Empire, there was an imperial-territorial democracy through the granting of citizenship to conquered peoples.

• Gramsci argues there could not be democracy in feudalism due to the existence of closed groups.

• Five key features of democracy emerge in Gramsci’s definition:

  • Democracy is a relationship between leaders and led, or governors and governed, or rulers and ruled, or elites and masses.

  • It involves social mobility from a lower to a higher class, or the ruling class’s openness to influx from the ruled class, renewing the former with members from the latter.

  • Democracy is a quantitative phenomenon, meaning it can be realized to a greater or lesser degree.

  • Democracy is an individualist phenomenon, emphasizing the social mobility of individuals. This is reflected in Gramsci’s molecular metaphor, where individuals are seen as the molecules of society.

  • The definition presupposes the elitist principle, as the mobility from led to leader is explicitly framed in elitist terms.

• Gramsci’s definition closely resembles Mosca’s mature view of democracy, which emphasizes the tendency to replenish the ruling class with elements from the lower classes.

• Mosca contrasts democratic and aristocratic tendencies, where democracy seeks to bring new members from the lower classes into the ruling class, while aristocracy aims to stabilize power in the descendants of the current ruling class.

• Both Gramsci and Mosca use a molecular metaphor to describe democracy, with social changes such as new inventions or economic developments favoring the movement of people between social strata.

• Gramsci’s understanding of democracy aligns with Mosca’s tendential character of democracy, which contrasts with aristocracy.

• Gramsci applies the concept of democracy to education, criticizing recent pedagogical reforms in Italy, such as the Gentile reform and the rise of adult-oriented universities.

• He argues that these new schools, although described as democratic, perpetuate social differences and crystallize them, making them pseudodemocratic.

• Gramsci defines true democracy as a system where every citizen can become a governor, with political democracy making governors and governed coincide.

• He criticizes the increasing number of professional schools that create an illusion of social mobility while actually leading to greater compartmentalization and stratification of society.

• To break this trend, Gramsci advocates for a unified preparatory school system, leading students to the threshold of choosing a profession while also preparing them to think, lead, and check those in power.

• Gramsci defends the teaching method of the old school, but criticizes its closed character, labeling it as “oligarchic” because it was attended only by the children of the upper class, destined to become leaders.

• By oligarchic, Gramsci contrasts it with democracy in the Moschian sense, which is akin to aristocracy. Gramsci does not refer to oligarchy in the etymological sense of rule by the few, but as a system opposite to democracy.

• Gramsci’s opposition to oligarchy, his nonopposition to elitism, and his distinction between oligarchy and elitism are similar to his defense of universal suffrage.

• Democracy is conceived as the opposite of something else, being one side of a spectrum. It is one of many dichotomies, such as the dichotomy between democracy and antidemocracy (oligarchy or aristocracy).

• Democracy is distinct from both liberalism and autocracy, meaning it is compatible with both.

• Gramsci acknowledges the possibility of an illiberal democracy, as seen in his criticism of Louis-Napoleon’s state newspaper.

• A concrete example Gramsci uses is the Catholic Church, which he describes as a democratic organism (in a paternalistic sense), where a son of a peasant or artisan can theoretically become cardinal or pope, if intelligent and malleable enough to fit into the ecclesiastical structure.

• The Church represents both Moschian democracy (because of its accessibility) and Moschian autocracy (because authority flows from the top down).

• Gramsci’s description of the Church draws from Mosca’s framework, with a slight difference in terminology, as Gramsci uses paternalism instead of autocracy.

• In summary, Gramsci’s concept of democracy in the Prison Notebooks aligns with Mosca’s view, considering it as:

  • A system of social mobility or open elites.

  • Compatible with elitism, and as a special case of it.

  • A tendency within a broader context of other tendencies.

  • Distinguishable from liberalism, and logically compatible with autocracy or paternalism.

  • Opposed to aristocracy or oligarchy.

  • A quantitative phenomenon, realized to a greater or lesser degree.

  • Rooted in individualism, despite appearing collectivist at the macroscopic level.

  • Relational in various senses, including its empirical relationship between elites and masses.

• Gramsci also employs the molecular metaphor, similar to Mosca’s use of it.

• These features, especially the emphasis on social mobility, the tendential conception, and the Church example, strongly connect Gramsci’s concept of democracy with Mosca’s theory.

• The nine features discussed confirm that Gramsci’s “most realistic and concrete” concept of democracy is deeply rooted in Mosca’s theory.