Universalism and particularism have become essential structural issues for modern thought and lead to distinct definitions of democracy, citizenship, and social policy. Challenging Habermas and the Habermasians, the current article argues that democracy can never be identified with domination. Meanwhile, contesting Chatterjee and Foucault, the author reaffirms citizenship and law in their various forms in relation to both bounded and unbounded serialities as the basis for democracy, beyond and despite governability. Latin America and especially Brazil provide the empirical focus for the discussion, albeit mediated by other countries, particularly India.
democracy; domination; India; Latin America; Brazil