Description
Book SynopsisInternational Order and Individual Liberty offers a critical examination of one of the most popular ideas among contemporary political scientists: that democracies do not go to war with one another. According to the school of the democratic peace, the long peace between democratic states since 1945 has demonstrated that democratic norms and institutions help states in the international system transcend traditional concerns about power-seeking and security, allowing for the possibility of a perpetual peace between democratic states. However, there is another explanation for the long peace between democracies: reverse causation. That is, the current peaceful international order (created by such factors as U.S. hegemony, the solidification of borders, economic growth, and the nuclear revolution) has made it possible for liberal democracy to flourish in many countries that have found it difficult or impossible to build and maintain free institutions in previous eras of international violence and instability. Only states which are relatively secure-politically, militarily, economically-can afford to have free, pluralistic societies; in the absence of this security, states are much more likely to adopt, maintain, or revert to centralized, coercive authority structures. This book outlines in detail the alternative theoretical perspective of peace facilitating democracy, and applies this theoretical perspective to a number of historical case studies. The case studies include an examination of the American Revolution, French Revolution, the development of Germany in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, and modern Israel.
Trade Review'International Order and Individual Liberty' is a helpful book. -- John M. Owen, IV, University of Virginia * International Relations *
...engaging, thoughtful, and carefully argued... -- John Mueller, Ohio State University * The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy *
...engaging, thoughtful, and carefully argued... -- John Mueller, Ohio State University * The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy *
'International Order and Individual Liberty' is a helpful book. -- John M. Owen, IV, University of Virginia * International Relations *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 List of Figures and Tables Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Notes on Terminology Chapter 4 Introduction Chapter 5 The Theoretical Controversy: Chapter 6 Causes of Peace in Modern International Relations Chapter 7 The Inadequacy of Democratic Peace Theory Chapter 8 How Peace Facilitates Democracy Chapter 9 Case Studies: Chapter 10 The American Revolution Chapter 11 The French Revolution Chapter 12 The Transformation of Germany Chapter 13 Israel: A Militarized Democracy Chapter 14 Conclusions Chapter 15 Bibliography Chapter 16 Index
