Democratic Experience and Political Violence

<p>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.</p> <p>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</p>