Ballots and Bullets
eBook - ePub

Ballots and Bullets

The Elusive Democratic Peace

  1. 144 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Ballots and Bullets

The Elusive Democratic Peace

About this book

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.

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Yes, you can access Ballots and Bullets by Joanne Gowa in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & International Relations. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. List of Figures and Tables
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Chapter 1 Introduction
  9. Chapter 2 Analytic Foundations of the Democratic Peace
  10. Chapter 3 Legislators, Voters, and the Use of Force Abroad
  11. Chapter 4 Reinterpreting the Democratic Peace
  12. Chapter 5 Interests and Alliances: Comparing Two International Systems
  13. Chapter 6 Explaining Relative Dispute-Rate Patterns
  14. Chapter 7 Conclusion
  15. References
  16. Index