Democracies at war

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reiter, Dan, 1967- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy.

War.

Genre:

Electronic Books

Physical Description:

1 online resource (298 pages)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University Press 2002

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Why do democracies win wars? This is a critical question in the study of international relations, as a traditional view--expressed most famously by Alexis de Tocqueville--has been that democracies are inferior in crafting foreign policy and fighting wars. In Democracies at War, the first major study of its kind, Dan Reiter and Allan Stam come to a very different conclusion. Democracies tend to win the wars they fight--specifically, about eighty percent of the time. Complementing their wide-ranging case-study analysis, the authors apply innovative statistical tests and new hypotheses. In unusually clear prose, they pinpoint two reasons for democracies' success at war. First, as elected leaders understand that losing a war can spell domestic political backlash, democracies start only those wars they are likely to win. Secondly, the emphasis on individuality within democratic societies means that their soldiers fight with greater initiative and superior leadership. Surprisingly, Reiter and Stam find that it is neither economic muscle nor bandwagoning between democratic powers that enables democracies to win wars. They also show that, given societal consent, democracies are willing to initiate wars of empire or genocide. On the whole, they find, democracies' dependence on public consent makes for more, rather than less, effective foreign policy. Taking a fresh approach to a question that has long merited such a study, this book yields crucial insights on security policy, the causes of war, and the interplay between domestic politics and international relations.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: TABLES AND FIGURES ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi

ONE

Democracy's Fourth Virtue 1

TWO

Democracy, War Initiation, and Victory 10

THREE

Democracy and Battlefield Success 58

FOUR

Balancers or Bystanders? The Lack of Fraternal

Democratic Assistance during War 84

FIVE

Winning Wars on Factory Floors? The Myth of the

Democratic Arsenals of Victory 114

SIX

Democracy, Consent, and the Path to War 144

SEVEN

The Declining Advantages of Democracy:

When Consent Erodes 164

EIGHT

Why Democracies Win Wars 193

NoTEs 207

BIBLIOGRAPHY 243

INDEX 269.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613133311

9781400817658

140081765X

9781283133319

1283133318

9781400824458

1400824451

9781400814558

1400814553

OCLC:

730151758