One of the common arguments against anarchism is that it is "anti-democratic" (or "elitist"). For example, the British Socialist Workers Party journal _International Socialism (number 52) denounces anarchism for being "necessarily deeply anti-democratic" due to its "thesis of the absolute sovereignty of the individual ego as against the imposition of any 'authority' over it," which, its is claimed, is the "distinctly anarchist concept." Then Hal Draper is quoted arguing that "[o]f all ideologies, anarchism is the most fundamentally anti-democratic in principle, since it is not only unalterably hostile to democracy in general but particularly to any socialist democracy of the most ideal kind that could be imagined." This is because "[b]y the 'principle of authority' the consistent anarchist means principled opposition to any exercise of authority, including opposition to authority derived from the most complete democracy and exercised in completely democratic fashion." The author of the review argues that this position is an "idealist conception" in which "any authority is seen as despotic; 'freedom' and 'authority' (and therefore 'freedom' and 'democracy' are opposites. This presumption of opposition to 'authority' was fostered by liberalism." Needless to say, he contrasts this with the "Marxist" "materialist understanding of society" in which it "was clear that 'authority' is necessary in any society where labour is collaborative." [Derek Howl, "The Legacy of Hal Draper," International Socialism, no. 52, p. 145]
Such as argument is, of course, just ridiculous. Indeed, it is flawed on so many levels its hard to know where to start. The obvious place to start is the claim that anarchism is the most "fundamentally anti-democratic in principle." Now, given that there are fascists, monarchists, supporters (like Trotsky) of "party dictatorship" and a host of others who advocate minority rule (even by one person) over everyone else, can it be argued with a straight face that anarchism is the most "anti-democratic" because it argues for the liberty of all? Is the idea and practice of absolute monarchy really more democratic than anarchism? Clearly not, although this does indicate the quality of this kind of argument.
Another obvious point is that anarchists do not see any authority as "despotic." As we indicated in section H.4, this common Marxist assertion is simply not true. Anarchists have always been very clear on the fact they reject specific kinds of authority and not "authority" as such. In fact, by the term "principal of authority," Bakunin meant hierarchical authority, and not "authority" as such. This explains why Kropotkin argued that "the origin of the anarchist inception of society . . . [lies in] the criticism . . . of the hierarchical organisations and the authoritarian conceptions of society" and stressed that anarchism "refuses all hierarchical organisation." [Kropotkin's Revolutionary Pamphlets, p. 158 and p. 137]
This means, just to state the obvious, that making and sticking by collective decisions are not acts of authority. Rather they simply expressions of individual autonomy. Clearly in most activities there is a need to co-operate with other people. Indeed, living involves the "absolute sovereignty of the individual ego" (as if anarchists like Bakunin used such terms!) being "restricted" by exercising that "sovereignty." Take, for example, playing football. This involves finding others who seek to play the game, organising into teams, agreeing on rules and so on. All terrible violations of the "absolute sovereignty of the individual ego," yet it was precisely the "sovereignty" of the "individual" which produced the desire to play the game in the first place. What sort of "sovereignty" is it that negates itself when it is exercised? Clearly, then, the Marxist "summary" of anarchist ideas on this matter, like of many others, is poverty stricken.
And, unsurprisingly enough, we find anarchist thinkers like Bakunin and Kropotkin attacking this idea of "the absolute sovereignty of the individual ego" in the most severe terms. Indeed, they thought was a bourgeois theory which simply existed to justify the continued domination and exploitation of working class people by the ruling class. Kropotkin quite clearly recognised its anti-individual and unfree nature by labelling it "the authoritarian individualism which stifles us" and stressing its "narrow-minded, and therefore foolish" nature. [Conquest of Bread, p. 130] Similarly, it would do the Marxist argument little good if they quoted Bakunin arguing that the "freedom of individuals is by no means an individual matter. It is a collective matter, a collective product. No individual can be free outside of human society or without its co-operation" or that he considered "individualism" as a "bourgeois principle." [The Basic Bakunin, p. 46 and p. 57] Perhaps, of course, these two famous anarchists were not, in fact, "consistent" anarchists, but that claim is doubtful.
Anarchism does, of course, derive from the Greek for "without authority" or "without rulers" and this, unsurprisingly, informs anarchist theory and visions of a better world. This means that anarchism is against the "domination of man by man" (and woman by woman, woman by man, and so on). However, "[a]s knowledge has penetrated the governed masses . . . the people have revolted against the form of authority then felt most intolerable. This spirit of revolt in the individual and the masses, is the natural and necessary fruit of the spirit of domination; the vindication of human dignity, and the saviour of social life." Thus "freedom is the necessary preliminary to any true and equal human association." [Charlotte Wilson, Anarchist Essays, p. 54 and p. 40] In other words, anarchist comes from the struggle of the oppressed against their rulers and is an expression of individual and social freedom. Anarchism was born from the class struggle.
Taking individual liberty as a good thing, the next question is how do free individuals co-operate together in such a way as to ensure their continued liberty. This, of course, means that any association must be one of equality between the associating individuals. This can only be done when everyone involved takes a meaningful role in the decision making process and because of this anarchists stress the need for self-government (usually called self-management) of both individuals and groups. Self-management within free associations and decision making from the bottom-up is the only way domination can be eliminated. This is because, by making our own decisions ourselves, we automatically end the division of society into governors and governed (i.e. end hierarchy). As Anarchism clearly means support for freedom and equality, it automatically implies opposition to all forms of hierarchical organisation and authoritarian social relationship. This means that anarchist support for individual liberty does not end, as many Marxists assert, in the denial of organisation or collective decision making but rather in support for self-managed collectives. Only this form of organisation can end the division of society into rulers and ruled, oppressor and oppressed, exploiter and exploited and create an environment in which individuals can associate without denying their freedom and equality.
This is why anarchists stress such things as decision making by mass assemblies and the co-ordination of decisions by the free federation of mandated and recallable delegates. This would allow those affected by a decision to have a say in it, so allowing them to manage their own affairs directly and without hierarchy.
Therefore, the positive side of anarchism (which naturally flows from its opposition to authority) results in a political theory which argues that people must control their own struggles, organisations and affairs directly. This means we support mass assemblies and their federation via councils of mandated delegates subject to recall if they break their mandates (i.e. they act as they see fit, i.e. as politicians or bureaucrats, and not as the people who elected them desire). This way people directly govern themselves and control their own lives. Rather than imply an "individualism" which denies the importance of association and the freedom it can generate, anarchism implies an opposition to hierarchy in all its forms and the support free association of equals. In other words, anarchism can generally be taken to mean support for self-government or self-management, both by individuals and by groups.
In summary, anarchist support for individual liberty incurs a similar support for self-managed groups. In such groups, individuals co-operate as equals to maximise their liberty. This means, for anarchists, Marxists are just confusing co-operation with coercion, agreement with authority, association with subordination. Thus the Marxist "materialist" concept of authority distorts the anarchist position and, secondly, is a supra-historical in the extreme. Different forms of decision making are lumped together, independent of the various forms it may assume. To equate hierarchical and self-managed decision making, antagonistic and harmonious forms of organisation, alienated authority or authority retained in the hands of those directly affected by it, can only be a source of confusion. Rather than being a "materialistic" approach, the Marxist one is pure philosophical idealism — the postulating of a-historic concepts independently of the individuals and societies that generate specific social relationships and ways of working together.
Similarly, it would be churlish to note that Marxists themselves have habitually rejected democratic authority when it suited them. Even that "higher type of democracy" of the soviets was ignored by the Bolshevik party once it was in power. In response to the "great Bolshevik losses in the soviet elections" during the spring and summer of 1918 which resulted in "big gains by the SRs and particularly by the Mensheviks," "Bolshevik armed force usually overthrew the results of these provincial elections." In addition, "the government continually postponed the new general elections to the Petrograd Soviet, the term of which had ended in March 1918. Apparently, the government feared that the opposition parties would show gains." Moreover, the Bolsheviks "pack[ed] local soviets once they could not longer count on an electoral majority" by giving representation to organisations they dominated. [Samuel Farber, Before Stalinism, pp. 23-4, p. 22 and p. 33] This, needless to say, made these elections meaningless and made the regime "soviet" in name only. The Bolsheviks simply undermined soviet democracy to ensure their hold in power.
In the workplace, the Bolsheviks replaced workers' economic democracy with "one-man management" appointed from above, by the state. Lenin was at the forefront of this process, arguing that workers' must "unquestioningly obey the single will of the leaders of labour" in April 1918 along with granting "individual executives dictatorial power (or 'unlimited' powers)." He argued that "the appointment of individuals, dictators with unlimited powers" was, in fact, "in general compatible with the fundamental principles of Soviet government" simply because "the history of revolutionary movements" had "shown" that "the dictatorship of individuals was very often the expression, the vehicle, the channel of the dictatorship of revolutionary classes." He notes that "[u]ndoubtably, the dictatorship of individuals was compatible with bourgeois democracy." [The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government, p. 34 and p. 32] This nonsense reached its heights (or, more correctly, depths) with Trotsky's ideas on the "militarisation of labour" he advanced in late 1919 and early 1920 as a means of reconstructing Russia in a socialist (!) manner after the (fast approaching) end of the Civil War. Need we also mention that Trotsky also abolished democratic forms of organisation in the military before the start of the Civil War — as he put it, the "elective basis is politically pointless and technically inexpedient and has already been set aside by decree." [quoted by M. Brinton, The Bolsheviks and Workers' Control, pp. 37-8]
These are a few examples of Trotsky's argument that you cannot place "the workers' right to elect representatives above the party. As if the Party were not entitled to assert its dictatorship even if that dictatorship clashed with the passing moods of the workers' democracy!" He continued by stating the "Party is obliged to maintain its dictatorship . . . regardless of temporary vacillations even in the working class . . . The dictatorship does not base itself at every moment on the formal principle of a workers' democracy." [quoted by Brinton, Op. Cit., p. 78] He repeated this argument nearly two decades later, stating that the "very same masses are at different times inspired by different moods and objectives. It is just for this reason that a centralised organisation of the vanguard is indispensable. Only a party, wielding the authority it has won, is capable of overcoming the vacillation of the masses themselves." [The Moralists and Sycophants, p. 59] Ultimately, for Leninists, the revolution is seen purely as a way for the "revolutionary" party to take power. Trotsky, for example, argued that "the proletariat can take power only through its vanguard" and that a "revolutionary party, even having seized power . . . is still by no means the sovereign ruler of society." Note, the party is "the sovereign ruler of society," not the working class. He stressed this by arguing that those "who propose the abstraction of Soviets to the party dictatorship should understand that only thanks to the party dictatorship were the Soviets able to lift themselves out of the mud of reformism and attain the state form of the proletariat." [Stalinism and Bolshevism]
So, remember when Lenin or Trotsky argue for "the dictatorship of individuals," the over-riding of the democratic decisions of the masses by the party, the elimination of workers factory committees in favour of appointed managers armed with "dictatorial" power or when the Bolshevik disbanded soviets with non-Bolshevik majorities, it is anarchism which is fundamentally "anti-democratic"! All in all, that anyone can claim that anarchism is more "anti-democratic" than Leninism is a joke. However, all these anti-democratic acts do fit in nicely with Howl's "materialist" Marxist concept that "'authority' is necessary in any society where labour is collaborative." As such, since "authority" is essential and all forms of collective decision making are necessarily "authoritarian" and involve "subordination," then it clearly does not really matter how collectives are organised and how decisions are reached. Hence the lack of concern for the liberty of the working people subjected to the (peculiarly bourgeois-like) forms of authority preferred by Lenin and Trotsky. It was precisely for this reason, to differentiate between egalitarian (and so libertarian) forms of organisation and decision making and authoritarian ones, that anarchists called themselves "anti-authoritarians."
Even if we ignore all the anti-democratic acts of Bolshevism (or justify them in terms of the problems facing the Russian Revolution, as most Leninists do), the anti-democratic nature of Marxist ideas still come to the fore. The Leninist support for centralised state power brings their attack on anarchism as being "anti-democratic" into clear perspective. Ultimately, Marxism results in the affairs of millions being decided upon by a handful of people in the Central Committee of the vanguard party. As an example, we will discuss Trotsky's arguments against the Makhnovist movement in the Ukraine.
Trotsky argued that the Makhnovists were against "Soviet power." This, he argued, was simply "the authority of all the local soviets in the Ukraine" because they all "recognise the central power which they themselves have elected." Consequently, the Makhnovists reject not only central authority about also the local soviets as well. Trotsky also argued that there were no "appointed" persons in Russia as "there is no authority in Russia but that which is elected by the whole working class and working peasantry. It follows [!] that commanders appointed by the central Soviet Government are installed in their positions by the will of the working millions." He stressed that one can speak of "appointed" persons "only under the bourgeois order, when Tsarist officials or bourgeois ministers appointed at their own discretion commanders who kept the soldier masses subject to the bourgeois classes." [The Makhno Movement] When the Makhnovists tried to call the fourth regional conference of peasants, workers and partisans to discuss the progression of the Civil War in early 1919, Trotsky, unsurprisingly enough, banned it.
In other words, because the Bolshevik government had been elected one year previously under a regime which had manipulated and overturned soviet elections, he (as its representative) had the right to ban a conference which would have expressed the wishes of millions of workers, peasants and partisans fighting for the revolution! The fallacious nature of his arguments is easily seen. Rather than executing the will of millions of toilers, Trotsky was simply executing his own will. He did not consult those millions nor the local soviets who had, in Bolshevik ideology, surrendered their power to the handful of people in the central committee of the Bolshevik Party. By banning the conference he was very effectively undermining the practical, functional democracy of millions and replacing it with a purely formal "democracy" based on empowering a few leaders at the centre. Yes, indeed, truly democracy in action when one person can deny a revolutionary people its right to decide its own fate!
Unsurprisingly, the anarchist Nestor Makhno replied by arguing that he considered it "an inviolable right of the workers and peasants, a right won by the revolution, to call congresses on their own account, to discuss their affairs. That is why the prohibition by the central authorities on the calling of such congresses . . . represent a direct and insolent violation of the rights of the workers." [quoted by Peter Arshinov, The History of the Makhnovist Movement, p. 129] We will leave it to the readers to decide which of the two, Trotsky or Makhno, showed the fundamentally "anti-democratic" perspective.
Lastly, there are a few theoretical issues that need to be raised on this matter. Notice, for example, that no attempt is made to answer the simple question of why having 51% of a group automatically makes you right! It is taken for granted that the minority should subject themselves to the will of the majority before that will is even decided upon. Does that mean, for example, that Marxists refuse minorities the right of civil disobedience if the majority acts in a way which harms their liberties and equality? If, for example, the majority in community decides to implement race laws, does that mean that Marxists would oppose the discriminated minority taking direct action to change those laws? Or, to take an example closer to Marxism, in 1914 the leaders of the Social Democratic Party in the German Parliament voted for war credits. The anti-war minority of that group went along with the majority in the name of "democracy," "unity" and "discipline". Would Howl and Draper argue that they were right to do so? If they were not right to betray the ideas of Marxism and the international working class, then why not? They did, after all, subject themselves to the "most perfect socialist democracy" and so, presumably, made the correct decision. Simply put, the arguments that anarchists are "anti-democratic" are question-begging in the extreme.
As a general rule-of-thumb, anarchists have little problem with the minority accepting the decisions of the majority after a process of free debate and discussion. As we argue in section A.2.11, such collective decision making is compatible with anarchist principles — indeed, is based on them. By governing ourselves directly, we exclude others governing us. However, we do not make a fetish of this, recognising that, in certain circumstances, the minority must and should ignore majority decisions. For example, if the majority of an organisation decide on a policy which the minority thinks is disastrous then why should they follow the majority? Equally, if the majority make a decision which harms the liberty and equality of a non-oppressive and non-exploitative minority, then that minority has the right to reject the "authority" of the majority. Hence Carole Pateman:
"The essence of liberal social contract theory is that individuals ought to promise to, or enter an agreement to, obey representatives, to whom they have alienated their right to make political decisions . . . Promising . . . is an expression of individual freedom and equality, yet commits individuals for the future. Promising also implies that individuals are capable of independent judgement and rational deliberation, and of evaluating and changing their own actions and relationships; promises may sometimes justifiably be broken. However, to promise to obey is to deny or limit, to a greater or lesser degree, individuals' freedom and equality and their ability to exercise these capacities. To promise to obey is to state that, in certain areas, the person making the promise is no longer free to exercise her capacities and decide upon her own actions, and is no longer equal, but subordinate." [The Problem of Political Obligation, p. 19]
Thus, for anarchists, a democracy which does not involve individual rights to dissent, to disagree and to practice civil disobedience would violate freedom and equality, the very values Marxists usually claim to be at the heart of their politics. The claim that anarchism is "anti-democratic" basically hides the argument that the minority must become the slave of the majority — with no right of dissent when the majority is wrong (in practice, of course, it is usually meant the orders and laws of the minority who are elected to power). In effect, it wishes the minority to be subordinate, not equal, to the majority. Anarchists, in contrast, because we support self-management also recognise the importance of dissent and individuality — in essence, because we are in favour of self-management ("democracy" does not do the concept justice) we also favour the individual freedom that is its rationale. We support the liberty of private individuals because we believe in self-management ("democracy") so passionately.
Indeed, Howl and Draper fail to understand the rationale for democratic decision making — it is not based on the idea that the majority is always right but that individual freedom requires democracy to express and defend itself. By placing the collective above the individual, they undermine democratic values and replace them with little more than tyranny by the majority (or, more likely, those who claim to represent the majority).
Progress is determined by those who dissent and rebel against the status quo and the decisions of the majority. That is why anarchists support the right of dissent in self-managed groups — in fact, as we argue in section A.2.11, dissent, refusal, revolt by individuals and minorities is a key aspect of self-management. Given that Leninists do not support self-management (rather they, at best, support the Lockean notion of electing a government as being "democracy") it is hardly surprising they, like Locke, views dissent as a danger and something to denounce. Anarchists, on the other hand, recognising that self-management's (i.e. direct democracy's) rationale and base is in individual freedom, recognise and support the rights of individuals to rebel against what they consider as unjust impositions. As history shows, the anarchist position is the correct one — without rebellion, numerous minorities would never have improved their position and society would stagnant. Indeed, Howl's and Draper's comments are just a reflection of the standard capitalist diatribe against strikers and protestors — they don't need to protest, for they live in a "democracy."
So, yes, anarchists do support individual freedom to resist even democratically made decisions simply because democracy has to be based on individual liberty. Without the right of dissent, democracy becomes a joke and little more than a numerical justification for tyranny. This does not mean we are "anti-democratic," indeed the reverse as we hold true to the fundamental rationale for democratic decision-making — it allows individuals to combine as equals and not as subordinates and masters. Moreover, diversity is essential for any viable eco-system and it is essential in any viable society (and, of course, any society worth living in). This means that a healthy society is one which encourages diversity, individuality, dissent and, equally, self-managed associations to ensure the freedom of all.
As Malatesta argued, "[t]here are matters over which it is worth accepting the will of the majority because the damage caused by a split would be greater than that caused by error; there are circumstances in which discipline becomes a duty because to fail in it would be to fail in the solidarity between the oppressed and would mean betrayal in face of the enemy . . . What is essential is that individuals should develop a sense of organisation and solidarity, and the conviction that fraternal co-operation is necessary to fight oppression and to achieve a society in which everyone will be able to enjoy his [or her] own life." [Life and Ideas, pp. 132-3]
As such, anarchists are not against majority decision making as such. We simply recognise it has limitations. In practice, the need for majority and minority to come to an agreement is one most anarchists would recognise:
"But such an adaptation [of the minority to the decisions of the majority] on the one hand by one group must be reciprocal, voluntary and must stem from an awareness of need and of goodwill to prevent the running of social affairs from being paralysed by obstinacy. It cannot be imposed as a principle and statutory norm. . .
"So . . . anarchists deny the right of the majority to govern in human society in general . . . how is it possible . . . to declare that anarchists should submit to the decisions of the majority before they have even heard what those might be?" [Malatesta, The Anarchist Revolution, pp. 100-1]
Therefore, while accepting majority decision making as a key aspect of a revolutionary movement and a free society, anarchists do not make a fetish of it. We recognise that we must use our own judgement in evaluating each decision reached simply because the majority is not always right. We must balance the need for solidarity in the common struggle and needs of common life with critical analysis and judgement. As Malatesta argues:
"In any case it is not a question of being right or wrong; it is a question of freedom, freedom for all, freedom for each individual so long as he [or she] does not violate the equal freedom of others. No one can judge with certainty who is right and who is wrong, who is closer to the truth and which is the best road for the greatest good for each and everyone. Experience through freedom is the only means to arrive at the truth and the best solutions; and there is no freedom if there is not the freedom to be wrong.
"In our opinion, therefore, it is necessary that majority and minority should succeed in living together peacefully and profitably by mutual agreement and compromise, by the intelligent recognition of the practical necessities of communal life and of the usefulness of concessions which circumstances make necessary." [Life and Ideas, p. 72]
Needless to say, our arguments apply with even more force to the decisions of the representatives of the majority, who are in practice a very small minority. Leninists usually try and confuse these two distinct forms of decision making. When Leninists discuss majority decision making they almost always mean the decisions of those elected by the majority — the central committee or the government — rather than the majority of the masses or an organisation. Ultimately, the Leninist support for democracy (as the Russian Revolution showed) is conditional on whether the majority supports them or not. Anarchists are not as hypocritical or as elitist as this, arguing that everyone should have the same rights the Leninists usurp for their leaders.
Therefore the Marxist attack on anarchism as "anti-democratic" is not only false, it is ironic and hypocritical. Firstly, anarchists do not argue for "the absolute sovereignty of the individual ego." Rather, we argue for individual freedom. This, in turn, implies a commitment to self-managed forms of social organisation. This means that anarchists do not confuse agreement with (hierarchical) authority. Secondly, Marxists do not explain why the majority is always right or why their opinions are automatically the truth. Thirdly, the logical conclusions of their arguments would result in the absolute enserfment of the individual to the representatives of the majority. Fourthly, rather than being supporters of democracy, Marxists like Lenin and Trotsky explicitly argued for minority rule and the ignoring of majority decisions when they clashed with the decisions of the ruling party. Fifthly, their support for "democratic" centralised power means, in practice, the elimination of democracy in the grassroots. As can be seen from Trotsky's arguments against the Makhnovists, the democratic organisation and decisions of millions can be banned by a single individual.
All in all, Marxists claims that anarchists are "anti-democratic" just backfire on Marxism.