# Democide **Domain:** State mass killing **Doc Type:** Developed Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Democide** is R. J. Rummel's term for murder by government, defined broadly to include intentional killing by officials and deaths knowingly imposed through lethal conditions under governmental authority. It was designed to cover genocide, politicide, massacres, and other state killing without restricting victims to protected identity groups. ## Boundary The term is influential but Rummel's datasets and estimates are contested. It should not replace the legally specific crime of genocide or erase differences among intent, policy, war death, neglect, and mass murder. ## Sources - R. J. Rummel, [Democide versus genocide](https://hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.HTM) ## Routes [[wiki/R. J. Rummel|R. J. Rummel]] · [[wiki/Aktion T4|Aktion T4]] · [[wiki/Fat Tails|Fat Tails]]