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.
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