Grasping the Democratic Peace: Principles for a Post-Cold War World

by Bruce Russet

Overview

By illuminating the conflict-resolving mechanisms inherent in the relationships between democracies, Bruce Russett explains one of the most promising developments of the modern international system: the striking fact that the democracies that it comprises have almost never fought each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400821020
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	11/29/1994
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Bruce Russett is Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Yale University and editor of the Journal of Conflict Resolution. His many works include Controlling the Sword: The Democratic Governance of National Security and The Prisoners of Insecurity: Nuclear Deterrence, the Arms Race, and Arms Control. In writing Grasping the Democratic Peace, he was accompanied by anthropologists Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember and political scientists William Antholis and Zeev Maoz.

Table of Contents

Preface (1995)
Acknowledgments
Ch. 1 The Fact of Democratic Peace 3
The Emergence of Democratic Peace before World War I 5
The Spread of Democratic Peace 9
Democracy, War, and Other Ambiguous Terms 11
Some Alleged Wars between Democracies 16
Ch. 2 Why Democratic Peace? 24
Alternative Explanations 25
Democratic Norms and Culture? 30
Structural and Institutional Constraints? 38
Distinguishing the Explanations 40
Ch. 3 The Imperfect Democratic Peace of Ancient Greece 43
Democracy, Autonomy, and War in Ancient Greece 43
Who Fought Whom? 51
When and Why Did Democracies Fight Each Other? 54
Norms and Perceptions 59
Appendix: Greek City-States in the Peloponnesian War: Their Domestic Regimes and Who They Fought 63
Ch. 4 The Democratic Peace since World War II 72
Who and When 73
What Influences Conflict? 76
Democracy Matters 84
Norms and Institutional Constraints 86
Appendix: States and Their Political Regimes, 1946-1986 94
Ch. 5 The Democratic Peace in Nonindustrial Societies 99
Warfare and Participation 100
Participation Matters 105
Some Examples 111
Appendix: Codes for Political Decision-making 115
Ch. 6 The Future of the Democratic Peace 119
Covert Action against Other Democracies 120
The Discourse at the End of the Cold War 124
From the Inside Out 129
Strengthening Democracy and Its Norms 131
Can a Wider Democratic Peace Be Built? 135
Notes 139
References 151
Index 167

What People are Saying About This

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

The best book yet written on the important question of why democracies appear not to fight wars with each other even though they do fight with non-democratic states. . . . This is a highly original and provocative work that is bound to stimulate much discussion and debate.
— Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Insitution and University of Rochester

Aaron Friedberg

This is a sophisticated and interesting book on what is undoubtedly the hot topic among students of international relations. Given the book's subject and its high quality, Grasping the Democratic Peace will be essential reading.
— Aaron Friedberg, Princeton University

Snyder

A very important book on a timely subject by a well-known and rigorous scholar. The book addresses a subject that has been of great interest recently both to academics and in policy circles: whether democracies ever fight wars with each other; and if not, why not.
— Jack L. Snyder, Columbia University

From the Publisher

"A very important book on a timely subject by a well-known and rigorous scholar. The book addresses a subject that has been of great interest recently both to academics and in policy circles: whether democracies ever fight wars with each other; and if not, why not."—Jack L. Snyder, Columbia University

"The best book yet written on the important question of why democracies appear not to fight wars with each other even though they do fight with non-democratic states. . . . This is a highly original and provocative work that is bound to stimulate much discussion and debate."—Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Insitution and University of Rochester

"This is a sophisticated and interesting book on what is undoubtedly the hot topic among students of international relations. Given the book's subject and its high quality, Grasping the Democratic Peace will be essential reading."—Aaron Friedberg, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

"Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view."—-Francis Fukuyama, Foreign Affairs

"The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy."—-Roland Dannreuther, Survival

"The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace."—-Jack S. Levy, International Studies Review

"In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read."——David A. Lake, The Journal of Politics

From the Publisher

"Bruce Russett's laudable book summarizes, dissects, and expands our understanding of the disinclination shown by democracies to fight each other, a finding that has spawned a minor cottage industry of analytic studies. . . . the book combines rigor and relevance, maturity and originality."

American Political Science Review

The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy.

Survival - Roland Dannreuther

The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace.
— Jack S. Levy

International Studies Review

In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read.
— David A. Lake

The Journal of Politics

The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy.
— Roland Dannreuther

Survival

In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read.

The Journal of Politics - David A. Lake

Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view.

Foreign Affairs - Francis Fukuyama

The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace.

International Studies Review - Jack S. Levy

Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view.
— Francis Fukuyama

Foreign Affairs