IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v605y2006i1p50-81.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Democracy, Values, and Violence: Paradoxes, Tensions, and Comparative Advantages of Liberal Inclusion

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Karstedt

    (Centre for Criminological Research in the Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice at Keele University, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Democracies represent an institutional framework and a way of life that is, almost by definition, nonviolent. Contrasting with this ideal are two simultaneous global trends: an extension of democratic regimes and rising levels of violent crime. This article explores this seeming gap between democracy’s ideal and reality. The author identifies comparative advantages and disadvantages for both democracy and autocracy in restraining violent crime. Comparative advantages of two core democratic values—individualism and egalitarianism—are examined with data from a sample of twenty-six countries. Results show that compared to collectivistic and authoritarian patterns, individualistic and egalitarian values reduce levels of violence. Societies with high levels of violent crime are concentrated among autocracies, which mostly have collectivistic and authoritarian values. In contrast, democratic societies are mostly characterized by individualistic and egalitarian values and have lower levels of violent crime. Democratic values have comparative advantages if they are fostered by democratic practices and institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Karstedt, 2006. "Democracy, Values, and Violence: Paradoxes, Tensions, and Comparative Advantages of Liberal Inclusion," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 50-81, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:605:y:2006:i:1:p:50-81
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716206288248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716206288248
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716206288248?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Alex Pridemore & Sang-Weon Kim, 2006. "Democratization and Political Change as Threats to Collective Sentiments: Testing Durkheim in Russia," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 82-103, May.
    2. Corinne Davis Rodrigues, 2006. "Civil Democracy, Perceived Risk, and Insecurity in Brazil: An Extension of the Systemic Social Control Model," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 242-263, May.
    3. Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman & Menendez, Ana Maria, 2002. "Violent Crime: Does Social Capital Matter?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(3), pages 509-539, April.
    4. Muller, Edward N. & Seligson, Mitchell A., 1994. "Civic Culture and Democracy: The Question of Causal Relationships," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 635-652, September.
    5. Pridemore, William Alex, 2003. "Measuring homicide in Russia: a comparison of estimates from the crime and vital statistics reporting systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 1343-1354, October.
    6. Przeworski,Adam & Alvarez,Michael E. & Cheibub,Jose Antonio & Limongi,Fernando, 2000. "Democracy and Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521793797, October.
    7. Gary Lafree & Andromachi Tseloni, 2006. "Democracy and Crime: A Multilevel Analysis of Homicide Trends in Forty-Four Countries, 1950-2000," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 25-49, May.
    8. Przeworski,Adam & Alvarez,Michael E. & Cheibub,Jose Antonio & Limongi,Fernando, 2000. "Democracy and Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521790321, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ian Loader, 2006. "Policing, Recognition, and Belonging," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 201-221, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kenneth E. Fernandez & Michele Kuenzi, 2010. "Crime and Support for Democracy in Africa and Latin America," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(3), pages 450-471, June.
    2. Daniel Fiorino, 2011. "Explaining national environmental performance: approaches, evidence, and implications," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 44(4), pages 367-389, November.
    3. Pettersson, Jan, 2003. "Democracy, Consolidation and Growth," Research Papers in Economics 2002:16, Stockholm University, Department of Economics, revised 15 Dec 2004.
    4. Matteo Cervellati & Alireza Naghavi & Farid Toubal, 2018. "Trade liberalization, democratization, and technology adoption," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 145-173, June.
    5. Snigdha Dewal & Jack A. Goldstone & Michael Volpe, 2013. "Forecasting Stability or Retreat in Emerging Democratic Regimes," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 32-47.
    6. Hubert Tworzecki, 2019. "Poland: A Case of Top-Down Polarization," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 97-119, January.
    7. Dincecco, Mark & Katz, Gabriel, 2012. "State Capacity and Long-Run Performance," MPRA Paper 38299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ming‐Chang Tsai, 2006. "Does Political Democracy Enhance Human Development in Developing Countries?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 233-268, April.
    9. Filipe R. Campante & Davin Chor, 2012. "Why Was the Arab World Poised for Revolution? Schooling, Economic Opportunities, and the Arab Spring," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 167-188, Spring.
    10. Mohammad Amin & Priya Ranjan, 2008. "When Does Legal Origin Matter?," Working Papers 080912, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    11. Bautista, M. A. & González, F. & Martínez, L. R. & Muñoz, P. & Prem, M., 2020. "Chile’s Missing Students: Dictatorship, Higher Education and Social Mobility," Documentos de Trabajo 18163, Universidad del Rosario.
    12. Cáceres, Neila & Malone, Samuel W., 2015. "Optimal Weather Conditions, Economic Growth, and Political Transitions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 16-30.
    13. Jakob Haan, 2007. "Political institutions and economic growth reconsidered," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 281-292, June.
    14. Michelle Albert Vachris & Justin P. Isaacs, 2017. "The Role of Cultural Values in the Formation and Survival of Pro-Growth Institutions," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 32(Spring 20), pages 89-113.
    15. Rose, Richard, 2007. "Evaluating democratic governance: A bottom up approach to European Union enlargement," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2007-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    16. Robert Mattes, 2014. "South Africa's Emerging Black Middle Class: A Harbinger of Political Change?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-147, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Michiel Vries & Iwona Sobis, 2014. "Reluctant Reforms: The Case of Kazakhstan," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 139-157, June.
    18. Ahmed Raza ul MUSTAFA* & Mohammad NISHAT**, 2017. "ROLE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN POVERTY REDUCTION IN PAKISTAN: A Quantitative Approach," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 27(1), pages 67-88.
    19. Gisselquist, Rachel & Niño-Zarazúa, Miguel, 2013. "What can experiments tell us about how to improve governance?," MPRA Paper 49300, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Sonin, Konstantin & Egorov, Georgy, 2014. "Incumbency Advantage in Non-Democracies," CEPR Discussion Papers 10178, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:605:y:2006:i:1:p:50-81. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.