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A Re-assessment of Liberal Pacifism at the Monadic Level of Analysis
Conflict Management and Peace Science (2008)
  • Charles R Boehmer, University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract

Are democracies are generally peaceful? The literature was in the past contradictory, although now there appears increasing evidence that democracies are more pacifistic than other regimes. This research note explores why the literature has often been mischaracterized or misunderstood in our field. This is followed with an analysis of democracy and conflict at the state level of analysis from 1884-1999 using a broad sample of states and appropriate statistical estimators. The results comport with past studies that democracies are less likely to initiate militarized conflicts. The study also shows that even when democracies do militarize a dispute, these are less likely to escalate to uses of military force or war.

Keywords
  • Democracy,
  • Interstate Conflict
Disciplines
Publication Date
2008
Citation Information
Charles R Boehmer. "A Re-assessment of Liberal Pacifism at the Monadic Level of Analysis" Conflict Management and Peace Science Vol. 25 Iss. 1 (2008)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/charles_boehmer/7/