Question

“The more power a government has, the more it can act arbitrarily according to the whims and desires of the elite, and the more it will make war on others and murder its foreign and domestic subjects. The more constrained the power of governments, the more power is diffused, checked, and balanced, the less it will aggress on others and commit mass violence. At the extremes of power, totalitarian governments slaughter their people by the tens of millions. In contrast, many democracies can barely bring themselves to execute even serial murderers.”
-Rudolph Rummel, United States political scientist, Death by Government, 1994

Identify ONE historical example of mass violence that was committed by a totalitarian state in the twentieth century that would support Rummel’s argument in the passage.

Explain ONE historical example of a democratic state committing mass violence that would challenge Rummel’s argument regarding democracies and mass violence.

Explain ONE development in the late twentieth century that likely shaped Rummel’s view of the relationship between democracy and mass violence.

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

a) One historical example of mass violence that was committed by a totalitarian state in the

twentieth century that would support Rummel’s argument would be the Holocaust. The

totalitarian leader was Adolf Hitler. The Holocaust is an example of mass violence as thousands

of people were killed due to totalitarian society

b) One historical example of a democratic state committing mass violence that would

challenge Rummel’s argument regarding democracies and mass violence would be African

resistance to European rule. Democratic European states like Britain disobeyed their principles

when they crushed African resistance to European rule through mass violence.

c)One development in the late twentieth century that likely shaped Rummel’s view of the

relationship between democracy and mass violence would be the spread of communism. Death

under communism occurred as a result of its cruel projects and social engineering. Communism

was relation between democracy and mass violence