The Democratic Peace and Territorial Conflict in the Twentieth Century

An original challenge to the foundations of the democratic peace literature.

Paul K. Huth (Author), Todd L. Allee (Author)

9780521801157, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 February 2003

514 pages, 9 b/w illus. 87 tables
22.9 x 15.7 x 3.6 cm, 0.85 kg

'The challenge for researchers is to separate the wheat from the chaff, to distinguish likely explanations from the merely plausible. Paul K. Huth and Todd L. Allee take up this task with talent, imagination, and much effort. The book is empirical in the best sense of the word.' Political Science Quarterly

This book presents a systematic reassessment of the theoretical and empirical foundations of the democratic peace literature. Three distinct theoretical models of how domestic political institutions shape the foreign policy choices of state leaders are developed and Huth and Allee then test hypotheses from each model against an original data set of 348 territorial disputes from 1919–95. Each territorial dispute is divided into three separate but related phases for empirical analysis: Challenge the Status Quo Stage, Negotiation Stage and Military Escalation Stage. Their statistical results provide strong support for the importance of democratic accountability and norms in shaping decisions to negotiate and settle disputes as well as to threaten force and escalate to war. The findings of this book address central debates and provide many insights into understanding when and why democratic leaders engage in cooperative or confrontational foreign policies.

1. Another study of democracy and international conflict?
2. Pathways to conflict escalation and resolution in international disputes
3. The international strategic context
4. Domestic institutions and the political accountability model
5. Domestic institutions and the political norms model
6. Domestic institutions and the political affinity model
7. Empirical results for decisions to challenge the status quo
8. Empirical results for decisions to offer concessions in negotiations
9. Empirical results for decisions to escalate with military force
10. What have we learned about the democratic peace?

Subject Areas: International law [LB], Armed conflict [JPWS], International relations [JPS], Political structures: democracy [JPHV], General & world history [HBG]