The Democratic Experience and Political Violence [Hardcover]

An incisive analysis of the connections between democracy and violence by acknowledged experts in the field. The connection between the two activities has often been largely ignored because of a widespread reluctance among democrats to consider the possibility that democratic forms perhaps encourage violence. This challenging volume opens up the debate.

Introduction  1. Elections and violence  2. Electoral regimes and the proscription of anti-democratic parties  3. Violence and electoral polarization in divided societies - three cases in comparative perspective  4. Should self-determination be legalized?  5. Democracy, commitment problems and managing ethnic violence - the case of India and Sri Lanka  6. Western democracies and Islamic fundamentalist violence  7. Purity is danger - an argument for divisible identities  8. Violence in the name of democracy - justifications for separatism on the radical right  9. Extremism and violence in Israeli democracy  10. violence and democracy in Eastern Europe  11. Violence and the paradox of democratic renewal - a preliminary assessment  12. The Italian regions and the prospects for democracy  13. Originary democracy and the critique of pure fairness  14. The political context of terrorism in America - ignoring extremists or pandering to them? 15. Democracy and the black urban riots - rethinking the meaning of political violence in democracy  16. Conclusions