Economists for Peace and Security

The Economics of Peace and Security Journal

Recent Issues

eps journal
A publication by Economists for Peace and Security

The democratic peace proposition: an agenda for critical analysis
CHAN, Steve

Vol 4, No 1 - Symposia on Defense innovation | Conflict theory and micro-level analysis, January 2009

The proposition that democracies are more peaceful than autocracies has spawned a huge literature. Much of the relevant quantitative research has shown that democracies indeed rarely, if ever, fight each other, although they are not necessarily less bellicose than autocracies in general. This essay seeks to identify several areas of concern that offer fruitful directions for further research to extend and clarify this proposition. These concerns relate to (1) conceptual clarification, (2) methodological assumptions, (3) causal interpretations, and (4) policy relevance. [Keywords: democratic peace, republicanism, libertarianism, preventive war. JEL codes: H56]

You do not have access to the full text of this article. You may purchase the article (individual articles are priced at £3 each and will be emailed to you as a PDF file after payment is received.)

To purchase this article please click the purchase link shown.

Alternatively please subscribe to the journal.

Return to the contents page.

You are logged in as guest. Some issues may not be available.