David C. Rapoport / Leonard Weinberg (eds.)

The Democratic Experience and Political Violence

Herausgeber: Rapoport, David C; Weinberg, Leonard

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This collection brings together distinguished scholars who have come to believe that democracies have a special proclivity to stimulate political violence. Cold War preoccupations and tendencies to ignore historical experiences have obscured this characteristic, as has a naive assumption that when appropriate peaceful means for settling disputes are provided, the "need" and thus the likelihood for violence dissipates. But the more we know about this feature of democracy the more effective our responses will be. The violence associated with elections is the dominant concern, analyzed on a general level and in particular case studies, such as in Israel, Italy, eastern Europe and the US. Forms of violence more conspicuous in, but not exclusive to democratic states receive special attention, for instance ethnic strife, riots, and terrorism. The focus is on national politics, but the impact of democratic institutions in shaping international responses to violence receives attention too. Finally, some very general issues are scrutinized. What does a persistant history of violence signify for national developments? Why do democracies have a proclivity for violence and can one make sense of Thomas Jefferson's dicta that democratic states need violence periodically to sustain themselves?

Produktdetails

• Verlag: CRC Press
• Seitenzahl: 384
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Mai 2001
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 223mm x 170mm x 36mm
• Gewicht: 612g
• ISBN-13: 9780714651507
• ISBN-10: 0714651508
• Artikelnr.: 21762393

Autorenporträt

David C. Rapoport, Leonard Weinberg

Inhaltsangabe

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