Democide

Democide refers to "the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person by government agents acting in their authoritative capacity and pursuant to government policy or high command." The term was first coined by Holocaust historian and statistics expert, R.J. Rummel in his book Death by Government, but has also been described as a better term than genocide to refer to certain types of mass killings, by renowned Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer.[1][2] According to Rummel, this definition covers a wide range of deaths, including forced labor and concentration camp victims, extrajudicial summary killings, and mass deaths due to governmental acts of criminal omission and neglect, such as in deliberate famines like the Holodomor, as well as killings by de facto governments, for example, killings during a civil war.[1][2] This definition covers any murder of any number of persons by any government.[1][2]

Rummel created democide as an extended term to include forms of government murder not covered by genocide. According to Rummel, democide surpassed war as the leading cause of non-natural death in the 20th century.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b c Harff, Barbara (1996). "Death by Government by R. J. Rummel". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 27 (1). MIT Press: 117–119. doi:10.2307/206491. JSTOR 206491.
  2. ^ a b c Harff, Barbara (2017). "The Comparative Analysis of Mass Atrocities and Genocide" (PDF). In Gleditish, N. P. (ed.). R.J. Rummel: An Assessment of His Many Contributions. SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice. Vol. 37. New York: Springer. pp. 111–129. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-54463-2_12. ISBN 9783319544632.
  3. ^ Rummel, Rudolph (2003) [1997]. Statistic of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900 (hardback ed.). Charlottesville, Virginia; New Brunswick, New Jersey: Center for National Security Law, School of Law, University of Virginia; Transaction Publishers, Rutgers University. ISBN 9783825840105. Retrieved 2 December 2021 – via Power Kills.
  4. ^ Rummel, Rudolph (1 February 2005). "Democide Vs. Other Causes of Death". Democratic Peace. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.