ABSTRACT
One of democracy’s great strengths has to be its wide appeal to people of all backgrounds. Yet background can also subvert democracy within states and lead to violence under certain sets of conditions. For instance, in many of the places where democratization has been pushed, but extended families and other communal solidarities persist, there has been extensive bloodshed: in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Bosnia - the list is long, while the rationale for how ethnic fissures can lead to ethnic violence seems clear.
