Bullets and Ballots : The Elusive Democratic Peace

by Gowa, Joanne S.; Gowa, Joanne

• ISBN13: 9780691002569
• ISBN10: 0691002568
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

There is a widespread belief, among both political scientists and government policymakers, that "democracies don't fight each other." Here Joanne Gowa challenges that belief. In a thorough, systematic critique, she shows that, while democracies were less likely than other states to engage each other in armed conflicts between 1945 and 1980, they were just as likely to do so as were other states before 1914. Thus, no reason exists to believe that a democratic peace will survive the end of the Cold War. Since U.S. foreign policy is currently directed toward promoting democracy abroad, Gowa's findings are especially timely and worrisome.Those who assert that a democratic peace exists typically examine the 1815-1980 period as a whole. In doing so, they conflate two very different historical periods: the pre-World War I and post-World War II years. Examining these periods separately, Gowa shows that a democratic peace prevailed only during the later period. Given the collapse of the Cold War world, her research calls into question both the conclusions of previous researchers and the wisdom of present U.S. foreign policy initiatives.By re-examining the arguments and data that have been used to support beliefs about a democratic peace, Joanne Gowa has produced a thought-provoking book that is sure to be controversial.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	3	(9)
Analytic Foundations of the Democratic Peace	12	(16)
Legislators, Voters, and the Use of Force Abroad	28	(16)
Reinterpreting the Democratic Peace	44	(24)
Henry Farber
Interests and Alliances: Comparing Two International Systems	68	(21)
Major-Power Alliance Dyads, 1870--1903	88	(1)
Major-Power Alliance Dyads, 1946--1961	88	(1)
Explaining Relative Dispute-Rate Patterns	89	(20)
Conclusion	109	(6)
References	115	(14)
Index	129