The Effects of Ethnic Division on Democratization In our modern world the most just equal and free form of government is democracy As such it has a prevalence and attractiveness that makes it the first choice of nations with the opportunity to start anew However a key characteristic of democracy is majority rule and this concept has the potential to cause significant problems for states with ethnic divisions How do such fundamental divisions affect the formation of a new democracy The abrupt democratization of a socially divided nation causes more harm through civil conflict and violence than good through the expected equality and freedom This paper begins by explicating some of the scenarios in which failed states or overthrown states take steps toward becoming peaceful democracies but are instead embroiled in civil conflict General factors contributing to this effect are then reviewed in order to provide the reader with a broader picture of the various possibilities of the situation Finally some probable solutions to resolving the conflicts of divided nations are discussed Throughout the paper the general term socially divided nation is used to refer to a state that is home to two or more easily distinguishable groups of ethnic religious cultural or linguistic nature SCENARIOS The most common cause of civil conflict among large ethnic groups is the collapse or withdrawal of authoritarian rule When the powerful governing body is no longer present groups are free to compete with each other Authoritarian rule has an interest in suppressing ethnic conflict because it must preserve its own integrity and strength through the unwavering support of a unified populace But when it ceases to exist for whatever reason the formerly subdued ethnic divisions rise to prominence and incite conflict Perhaps more accurately the groups are compelled to compete with each other for their respective securities Because the social groups are no longer contained by a central authority they can be effectively viewed as unique states with an obligation to provide for the security of their populations The multiple groups each simultaneously vying for the power necessary to ensure their security results in the security dilemma An increase in one group s security makes the other groups less secure1 The prime example of this situation is the death of Tito and the subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia The dissolution of the communist regime left the Serbs Croats Bosnians Montenegrins and Albanians to fight over the land and its borders as each sought to provide for the security of their own populations The already strong dislike among the groups began to be compounded exponentially Thus the brand new democratic states fell into a splintering conflict instead of embracing strong minority rights and power sharing governments Likewise the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of democracy into the former socialist republics caused widespread unrest as nearly every individual ethnic group clamored for autonomy secession and independence Ethnic nationalism effectively takes the forefront within a people s perception of their identity when civic nationalism declines In addition to the conflicts resulting from the former socialist republics seceding from the metropole 2 most of the republics themselves have groups fighting for even more distinct new states encouraged by their recent freedom from prior oppression Clear examples of this can be seen especially in the conflicts of the Caucasus region embroiling states such as Armenia Georgia and Chechnya In many cases such demands can be satisfied by granting partial autonomy but conflict often arises because as enclaves made up of perfectly homogeneous ethnicities are virtually impossible the majority group always has a vested interest in opposing this separation For example in 1979 seventeen percent of all Russians lived outside their home 1 Jervis Robert Perception and Misperception in International Politics Princeton University Press Princeton 1976 76 2 Van Evera Stephen Primed for Peace Europe after the Cold War In Sean M Lynn Jones and Steven E Miller ed The Cold War and After Prospects for Peace MIT Press Cambridge 1991 233 republic in the now successor states to the Soviet Union3 The metropole wants to hold onto the seceding territories occupied in part by some of its people It has further reason to launch preventive wars against secession a seceding region has an inclination to align itself with external enemies of the state that it is seceding from This does not bode well for the metropole s sense of security The scenario is compounded when neighboring states take an active role in scavenging the fractured remains of the collapsed or declining state The second version of this scenario involves the withdrawal of an authoritarian power In most cases as in that of Sri Lanka the withdrawing ruler is a colonial power When the British granted independence and left the island in 1948 tension between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority mounted exponentially The rights of the Tamils were no longer protected by the largely third party British Actions beyond the usual oppression such as state sponsored Sinhalese colonization and a law making Sinhala the single official language gave the Tamils reason enough to resort to militancy to secure themselves4 The democratic government has not been able to bring a peaceful end to the ongoing civil war in the country In another scenario instead of an imperial power departing an intervening foreign power overthrows the existing government of a state and attempts to impose and establish a democratic government in order to serve its own interests The 2003 Iraq invasion by the United States serves here as the chief exhibit The occupying force removed the national cohesive force of Saddam Hussein and began to install a democracy that gave the formerly oppressed majority Shi a the reigns of power In the same manner as was described before Saddam s sole authority had ensured a false equilibrium and peace among the three major ethnic groups Sunni Shi a and Kurds And so along with the freedom of democracy has come conflict and violence as ethnic 3 Van Evera Primed for Peace Europe after the Cold War 234 4 Wikipedia Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war http en wikipedia org wiki Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war 12 Mar 09 divisions occupy the forefront of politics In particular the reversal of the holders of the dominant