Democratic Peace theory

Question 1

Waltz

Answer 1

Waltz’s typology of war

1) individual level
2) state level
3) system level

Question 2

Stat. types of war in last decade

Answer 2

95% inter state rather than between them (Baylis)

Question 3

Realist view of democratic peace

Answer 3

Focuses too much on state level causes. Instead the real “cause of war” is that there is nothing to stop it (anarchy) –> security dilemma

Question 4

Power Transition Theory

Answer 4

Organski- new hegemon will rise up and displace the old one

opposite of balance of power theory which says that a hegemon should never arise

Question 5

Institutional arguments for democratic peace theory

Answer 5

• Democratic states need mandates for war, meaning that they are slow to mobilise and not capable of orchestrating covert operations (democracies reveal more information)
• Democratic governments know that they have a chance of being cast out after wars - hence only fight wars that they will win (caveat: this says that dem states strong- separate point?)
• Levy: Democratic states are used to the norm of bounded political competition (is this normative?)
• Cosmpopolitain argument: liberal trade leads to peace.
• Crit: Doyle: free market states separate from economy

Question 6

Normative arguments for democratic peace theory

Answer 6

• Kant & definitive articles: when states are republican and join together in a pacific union they will foster a mutual respect for each other (links the right of individuals to the right of states)
• Doyle “conventions of mutual respect”

Question 7

Criticism of institutional arguments

Answer 7

These should make it impossible (or extremely unlikely) for democratic states to engage in any form of war at all. However the majority of wars between democracies and non-democracies have been initiated by non-democracies (Owen)

Question 8

Criticism of normative arguments

Answer 8

It has not even been the case that liberal states have only gone to war to defend liberal causes (Imperial struggles)
Also been cases of dem-dem conflict (albeit covert

Question 9

Doyle’s definition of a democracy/liberal regime

Answer 9

(1983)

1) Market or private property
2) Government internally sov
3) Citizens with judicial rights
4) Representative governments

Question 10

Rummel’s definition of a democracy

Answer 10

Competitive elections
Secret ballot
Wide franchise (2/3 of adult males)
Freedom of speech etc

Question 11

Alternatives to binary definitions

Answer 11

Polity data series and resulting scale –> binary anyway

Question 12

Mansfield and Snyder

Answer 12

Transitioning democracies can be more war prone than transitioning autocracies

Question 13

Problems with Corrolates of War data

Answer 13

Many more Militarized Interstate Disputes than wars.

Hensel, Goertz & Diehl: the probability of these decreases rapidly after transition

Question 14

Examples of leaders going to war without consent of people

Answer 14

Truman war in Korea, Nixon invading Cambodia, Bush initiating Gulf war

Question 15

Rosato

Answer 15

An American Imperial Peace that is now crumbling as US financial support is waning (Rosato),

Question 16

Constructivist viewpoint

Answer 16

Role of perception important- FDR gave benefit of the doubt to Britian that he withheld from Nazi Germany

Question 17

Example of covert ops dem-dem

Answer 17

Britain France Israel Suez canal 1956