DISADVANTAGE/DEMOCRACY PROMOTION

IMPACT: DEMOCRACY IS THE BEST WAY TO PREVENT ETHNIC CONFLICT

DEMOCRACY IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT ETHNIC GROUPS FROM PERSECUTION

Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, December, 1995; Promoting Democracy in the 1990s, http://www.carnegie.org//sub/pubs/deadly/diam-rpt.htmI // acs Overwhelmingly, theory and evidence show that the path to peaceful management of ethnic pluralism lies not through suppressing ethnic identities and superimposing the hegemony of one group over others. Eventually, such a formula is bound to crumble or be challenged violently. Rather, sustained interethnic moderation and peace follow from the frank recognition of plural identities, legal protection for group and individual rights, devolution of power to various localities and regions, and political institutions that encourage bargaining and accommodation at the center. Such institutional provisions and protections are not only significantly more likely under democracy, they are only possible with some considerable degree of democracy.

SENSE OF DEMOCRACY PROTECTS FROM ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS

David A. Hamburg, Carnegie Commission, December, 1995; Promoting Democracy in the 1990s, Foreward

http://www.carnegie.org//sub/pubs/deadly/diam_rpt.html// acs

In a world full of ethnocentrism, prejudice, and violent conflict, there is a vital need for core democratic values to resolve ethnic and religious conflicts and to prevent their escalation to violence. The absence of democratic mechanisms to sort out conflicts within a country often makes it easy for conflicts to spill over into violence.

DEMORACY IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT ETHNIC GROUPS FROM PERSECUTION

Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, December, 1995; Promoting Democracy in the 1990s, http://www.carnegie.org//sub/pubs/deadly/diam_rpt.html // acs

Overwhelmingly, theory and evidence show that the path to peaceful management of ethnic pluralism lies not through suppressing ethnic identities and superimposing the hegemony of one group over others. Eventually, such a formula is bound to crumble or be challenged violently. Rather, sustained interethnic moderation and peace follow from the frank recognition of plural identities, legal protection for group and individual rights, devolution of power to various localities and regions, and political institutions that encourage bargaining and accommodation at the center. Such institutional provisions and protections are not only significantly more likely under democracy, they are only possible with some considerable degree of democracy.[5]