The Democratic Experience and Political Violence

Americans are lucky. In their political processes, rarely does anyone die. Of course, we all know of the Presidents assassinated. But when you look over all who run for office in the US, violence is very infrequent. This book demonstrates that it is not always so elsewhere. For example, in India, the world's largest democracy, two prime ministers have died in office, while their federal elections regularly have associated death tolls. The book surveys other places with similar travails. Northern Ireland. Sri Lanka. Israel. South Africa.Indeed, the book poses an uncomfortable question to thosre who swear by democracy. Can an electoral process actually exacerbate or incite violence? Likewise, self determination is usually considered a good thing. Consent of the governed and all that. This was the basis for the US Revolutionary War, after all, and for the post WW2 decolonisation of the European empires. But when one looks at the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, this self determination seemed to trigger a series of little wars.The book also discusses something very topical. Democracy and Islamic fundamentalism. For example, if an Arab country is being ruled by a de facto dictatorship, and fundamentalists are agitating for democracy, this can pose dilemmas for the US. If the US supports them in gaining power peacefully, will they be grateful, to put it bluntly? Or might they then use the tyranny of the majority at the ballot box to discriminate against ethnic or religious minorities?Given the current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, readers may see this as a very germane question. Plus, in both countries, quite aside from religion, there are several ethnic groups with possible aspirations for a more independent role, which relates to the issues discussed earlier for other parts of the world. An awkward book, for the issues it raises.