Does democracy diffuse or strengthen ethnic conflict?

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. On the surface of the argument, democracy appears to be the evolutionary step above ethnic identity; the existence of a democratic setup (a not-so-unspoken requirement for acceptance within the international community of states) automatically negates any ethnic allegiances and attempts to replace them with a nationalistic identity. However, in countries where democracy is imposed from …

…guarantees to ethnic groups and depends on the goodwill of the ruling government (usually formed of the majority ethnicity) to deliver on the promises of equality and due representation. In its current incarnation democracy continues to marginalize ethnic minorities, and subsequently deepens the ethnic divide. As in Pakistan, if this divide is not rectified through a structured political process, the social context of political struggles will again revert to a fight for freedom against tyranny.