Towards a Theory of Democide

This chapter draws the book to a close by putting forward a theory of democide that seeks to synthesise both the exogenous and endogenous explanations so as to produce a more holistic understanding of how democracies break down. Drawing together contextual factors along with those characteristics inherent to democracy itself, this theory will paint a picture of collapse that shows how democracies can fail in and of themselves given the right circumstances and conditions. Using the well-known collapse of Weimar’s parliamentary democracy in the years preceding the Second World War as the key illustrative example, this chapter will therefore demonstrate the often indistinguishable exogenous and endogenous factors that are at play when a democracy elects to end its own life.