Why Democracies Fight Dictators

Over the course of the last century, there has been an outsized incidence of conflict between democracies and personalist regimes—political systems where a single individual has undisputed executive power and prominence. In most cases, it has been the democratic side that has chosen to employ military force.

Why Democracies Fight Dictators takes up the question of why liberal democracies are so inclined to engage in conflict with personalist dictators. Building on research in political scien...