Liberal democracy and interstate peace
Keywords:
democracy, liberalism & peaceAbstract
War has been a constant curse on humanity; however, the world currently finds itself in the unique position that interstate peace is prevalent on four continents. While there are many valid theories in International Relations they all except for the democratic peace theory fall short when used to explain the spread of interstate peace among liberal democracies. The democratic peace theory has, however, been contested in recent times with the attacks of 9/11 and subsequent US-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the rise of pseudo democracies that hold elections without being liberal. To determine whether the theory is as strong as its proponents insist, the theory is once again analyzed with a focus on liberalism. The findings are clear, liberal democracies do not go to war with each other.
References
Ali, A. H. (2010). Idea of one world is an illusion”. Bangkok Post, August 28, 10, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29644
Carr, E. H. (2001). The twenty years’ crises, 1919-1939. 2001 ed., New York, USA: Palgrave.
Clinton, W. J. (1994). Address before a joint session of the congress on the State of the Union, Jan 25, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php ?pid=50409
de Tocqueville, A. (1969). Democracy in America, New York : Doubleday, pp. 1839-1840.
Diamond, L. (2003). Defining and developing democracy.In The Democracy Sourcebook, Dahl, R. A., Shapiro, I., & Cheibub, J. A., pp. 29-39. London: The MIT Press.
Doyle, M. (1986). Liberalism and world politics, American Political Science Review, 80(4), 1151-1169.
Fukuyama, F. (2006). The end of history and the last man, 2nd ed. New York : Free Press.
Gurr, T. R. & Jaggers, K. (1995). Tracking democracy’s third wave with the polity III data. Journal of Peace Research, 32(4), 469-482.
Hobbes, T. (2003) Of man: The life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and short, London, UK: Penguin Books.
Huntington, S. P. (1993). The clash of civilizations?, Foreign Affairs, 72, 22-49.
Huntington, S. P. (1996). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order, New York, USA: Simon & Schuster.
Juárez García, B. (nd.). Presidentes de Mexico. http://www.presidentesdemexico.com.mx/index3.php ; &retrieved from Wikiqoutes (2010). http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/ Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez
Kant, I. (1795). Perpetual peace: A philosophical sketch. [As quoted online in Gieseler, S. G. (2008). Debate on the ‘democratic peace’: A review. http://asrudiancenter. wordpress. com/2008/09/23/ debate-on-the-%E2% 80%98democratic-peace% E2%80%99-a-review/]
Locke, J. (1652). The second treatise of government, In Pearson , T. P. & Piest, O. (Eds.), New York, USA: The Liberal Arts Press, (1996).
Locke, J. (1690). An essay concerning human understanding. http://socserv.mcmaster. ca/econ/ugcm /3ll3/locke/Essay.htm
Locke, J. (1691). An essay concerning human understanding. An abridgement, edited by J. W.Yolton. London and Melbourne: DFent & Sons Ltd., Everyman’s Library, 1985.
Machiavelli, N. (1952). The Prince, New York, USA: Mentor Book Oxford University Press, Inc.
Maoz, Z. & Russett, B. (1993). Normative and structural causes of democratic peace, 1946-1986. American Political Science Review, 87(3), 624-638.
Mearsheimer, J J. (2001). The tragedy of great power politics, New York, USA: W. W. Norton & Company.
Morgenthau, H. (1950). Politics among Nations, 4th printing, New York, USA: Alfred A. Knopf.
Nye, J. S. (1988). Neorealism and Neoliberalism. World Politics, 40(2), 235-251, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Owen, J. M. (1994). How liberalism produces democratic peace. International Security, 19(2; Autumn), 87-125.
Pateman, C. (2003). Participation and democratic theory. In The Democracy Sourcebook, Dahl, R. A., Shapiro, I., & Cheibub, J. A. (Eds.), pp. 40-47, London, UK: The MIT Press.
Przeworski, A. ( 2003). Minimalist conception of democracy: A defense. In The Democracy Sourcebook, Dahl, R A., Shapiro, I. & Cheibub, J. A. (Eds.), pp. 12-17, London, UK: The MIT Press.
Rawls, John. The Law of Peoples, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard University Press, 1999.
Ricardo, D. (2005). The principles of political economy and taxation, USA : Barnes and Nobles Publishing, Inc.
Rosecrance, R. (1986). The rise of the trading state, New York, USA : Basic Books, Inc.
Rousseau, J-J. (1969). The social contract, London, UK: Penguin Books.
Russett, B. & Oneal, J. R. (2001). Triangulating peace: democracy, interdependence, and international organization, New York, USA : W.W. Norton & Company.
Schumpeter, J. A. (2010). Capitalism, socialism, and democracy, London, UK and New York, USA: Routledge Classics.
Sen, A. 2010. Peace, violence and development in modern societies Speech at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, Thailand, July 20.
UDHR. (1948). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10.
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
X, Malcolm. (1965). Prospects for freedom in 1965 speech, Jan. 7 1965, New York City, USA (published in Malcolm X Speaks, ch. 12,
Waltz, K. 1979. Theory of international politics. USA : McGraw-Hill.
Wilson, W. (1918). Address to a joint session of Congress on the conditions of peace”, January 8. http://www.presidency.ucsb. edu/ws/index. php?pid=65405&st=&st1=
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
