R. J. Rummel

Rudolph Joseph Rummel (born October 21, 1932) is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii and alternative historian. He has spent the latter part of his career assembling data on wars, conflicts, and governmental murder, for which he has coined the term democide.

Related Topics:
October 21 - 1932 - Political science - University of Hawaii - Alternative historian - Murder - Democide

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Among Rummel's more startling claims is that the death toll from government "murder" is far greater than the death toll from war. After studying over 8,000 reports of government caused deaths, Rummel estimates that there have been 170 million victims of democide in the last century, as contrasted to some 38 million killed in war: according to his figures, four times as many people have died from the inflictions of people working for governments than have died in battle. The high number of deaths outside of war circumstances is in part attributable to starvation and other causes arising from governments' flagrant disregard for human needs.

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Rummel claims that his research reveals strong correlations between peace, freedom, and democracy. According to his analysis, of 353 wars since 1816, very few have been waged between democracies, and none have been waged between liberal democracies--"liberal democracy" being defined as nations which have universal franchise, free speech, and free press all enshrined in their bodies of law. "We have a solution for war," Rummel says. "It is to expand the sphere of liberty."

Related Topics:
Peace - Freedom - Democracy - 1816

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There is also a correlation, Rummel says, between political power and democide. Political mass murder grows increasingly common as political power becomes unconstrained, he claims: at the other end of the scale, where power is diffuse, checked, and balanced, political violence is a rarity. According to Rummel, "The more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom."

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Rummel concludes: "Concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth."

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Rummel's writings and research have also been connected with the democratic peace theory.

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