Democracy is the keystone of American society. But according to Sambuddha Ghatak, professor of political science, it is also a gateway to terrorism.
Ghatak introduced this concept Aug. 29. through a lecture titled “Minority Economic Discrimination, Democracy and Domestic Terrorism,” marking the beginning of this year’s Becker Seminar Series, sponsored by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center.
Bhatak, a native of India, became interested in the causes of terrorism while studying ongoing discrimination against the Dalits, a group historically considered the lowest social class in India.
By analyzing successful terrorist attacks, Ghatak found that the majority were domestic, not international, and had their roots in deliberate discrimination by the government. He claimed that democracy, while the best system of government, should not be the sole long-term answer to preventing terrorism.
“Instead of blindly supporting democracy, we need to look at the situation,” Ghatak said, arguing that responsive and inclusive governments are better equipped to fight terrorism.
Using Iraq as an example, Ghatak said a rapid transition into democracy after years of discrimination against minority groups has created an opportunity for terrorism used as a form of retribution. With a sudden shift to more freedom, Ghatak said, individuals have greater ability to carry out terrorist attacks, an opportunity they may take advantage of if the discrimination is not immediately addressed.
The Islamic State terror organization, which has seized large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, claims they are trying to establish a ‘caliphate’ in the country and was partly inspired by the discrimination Sunni Muslims faced under the Shiite Islam government of Nouri al-Maliki.
In his lecture, Ghatak also noted that ‘mature’ democracies like the United Kingdom and Spain experienced high levels of terrorism, compared to countries with less freedom. He stated that democracy and freedom also exposes the country to certain risks and greater potential for terrorism.
After the lecture, however, Curtis Bell, assistant professor of political science, noted that it is hard to draw conclusions from such results, as repressive countries with less freedom are also unlikely to publicize terrorist incidents.
“Whenever we’re comparing these countries we have to be careful, events in democracies are being over reported relative to events in non-democratic states,” Bell said.
While Bell said that the findings are noteworthy, more study on the subject is needed.
“Over time, these (theories) evolve as more and more people study the subject and study different facets of it,” Bell said.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not the final word.”
