Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2005

Puzzles of the Democratic Peace

Theory, Geopolitics and the Transformation of World Politics

Palgrave Macmillan

Part of the book series: Evolutionary Processes in World Politics (EPWP)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. Introduction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Developing Perspective on Democratic Peace Phenomena

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 3-34
  3. Contexts in Which Democracies Emerge: Chickens or Eggs?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35
    2. Questions of Regional Primacy

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 60-87
  4. The Relative Strength of Regime Types in Coercive Contexts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 89-89
    2. Path-Dependencies and Foreign Policy

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 91-112
    3. Do Rivalries Trump Regime Type?

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 113-136
    4. Do the Gods of War Really Favor Democracies?

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 137-157
  5. The Systemic Context in Which Democracies Compete

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 159-159
    2. Do Democratic-Autocratic Rivalries Muddy the Monadic Waters?

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 161-177
    3. Long-Term Structural Change and Regime Type

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 178-197
  6. Conclusion

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 217-217
    2. History and Selective Transformations of World Politics

      • Karen Rasler, William R. Thompson
      Pages 219-235
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 236-271

About this book

Ever since the revival of Kant's Perpetual Peace thesis, the linkages between democracy and peace has been a central topic in international relations research, with sustained debate over whether it exists and if it does, why it does. In this stimulating volume, two leading IR scholars place the democratic peace debate within a broader context, including the extent of threats in international relations, degree of satisfaction with the status quo, the diffusion of democracy, and the rise of the trading state. Step by step, Thompson and Rasler examine the democratic peace through a series of puzzles concerning arguments at the dyadic, systemic, and individual state levels. Synthesizing a broad range of knowledge and linking islands of theory, Puzzles of the Democratic Peace provides a distinctive look at the state of the field and paths forward.

Reviews

'This volume is extremely impressive. Its careful, well-balanced theoretical approach and its systematic empirical testing will quickly make it the gold standard for books on the democratic peace. Each chapter builds on the preceding chapter by testing important components of the new theory, building a mountain of empirical evidence in support of the new approach. Scholars will be engrossed by the sophisticated theoretical comparisons and the new synthesis that the authors advance.' - Jeffrey Pickering, Kansas State University

About the authors

WILLIAM R. THOMPSON and KAREN RASLER are both Professors of Political Science at Indiana University at Bloomington, USA.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access