Democide refers to government-sponsored or orchestrated murder of people, including genocide, mass murder, and politicide. It does not include military actions or state-sanctioned executions. Gray areas exist in defining democide, but it generally involves political or cultural motivations for killing.
Democide is a generic and catch-all term used to refer to the murder of people by a government; this can be used to refer to many different types of actions. This type of murder can be inflicted by a government on its own people or it can be the death of those who are part of another governing body. However, it does not refer to murder or death as a result of military actions or state-sanctioned executions, such as those of a prisoner found guilty by trial. Democide often refers to three distinct forms of murder: genocide, mass murder, and politicide.
The term “democide” is typically used to refer to any act of murder committed or sponsored by a government. More exact definitions of the term can be difficult to establish, as there are many potential gray areas regarding what constitutes “murder” and how accountable a government is for such acts. Military actions, for example, are typically not considered democide because they are too numerous to provide meaningful information. Similarly, executing a prisoner found guilty of a capital offense through trial is also generally not considered such an action, although this too may be an area of contention.
One form of democide is genocide, which is the government-sponsored and orchestrated murder of a group of people for religious or cultural reasons. The murder of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust is an example of genocide, as they were specifically targeted because of their religion. There are many other examples of these kinds of acts which are often conducted in regions of social and cultural conflict between neighboring groups.
Mass killings in general, whether sponsored or otherwise conducted by a government, can also be viewed as democide. If a country’s government experiences a food shortage, for example, it could limit the transportation of food to one region in favor of another. This can create a famine within the targeted area which then results in thousands or millions of deaths. Such an action would be considered mass murder, but not genocide, as it is not based on cultural or religious goals.
Politicide is also a form of democide, which is the murder by a government of people for political reasons. Dissidents of a tyrannical regime, for example, can be arrested and executed to ensure there is no further opposition to the government. This political motivation for killing, rather than cultural targeting or general malice, establishes acts as politicide.
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