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Book Disarmed Democracies

Download or read book Disarmed Democracies written by David P. Auerswald and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2010-04-23 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Disarmed Democracies: Domestic Institutions and the Use of Force, David P. Auerswald examines how the structure of domestic political institutions affects whether democracies use force or make threats during international disputes. Auerswald argues that the behavior of democracies in interstate conflict is shaped as much by domestic political calculations as by geopolitical circumstance. Variations in the structure of a democracy's institutions of governance make some types of democracies more likely to use force than others. To test his theory, Auerswald compares British, French, and U.S. behavior during military conflicts and diplomatic crises from the Cold War era to the present. He discusses how accountability and agenda control vary between parliamentary, presidential, and premier-presidential democracies and shows how this affects the ability of the democracy to signal its intentions, as well as the likelihood that it will engage in military conflict. His findings have implications for the study of domestic politics and the use of force, as well as of U.S. leadership during the next century. This study will interest social scientists interested in the domestic politics of international security, comparative foreign policy, or the study of domestic institutions. It will interest those concerned with the exercise of U.S. leadership in the next century, the use of force by democracies, and the future behavior of democratizing nations. David P. Auerswald is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University.

Book Disarmed Democracies

Download or read book Disarmed Democracies written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Disarmed Democracies: Domestic Institutions and the Use of Force, David P. Auerswald examines how the structure of domestic political institutions affects whether democracies use force or make threats during international disputes. Auerswald argues that the behavior of democracies in interstate conflict is shaped as much by domestic political calculations as by geopolitical circumstance. Variations in the structure of a democracy's institutions of governance make some types of democracies more likely to use force than others. To test his theory, Auerswald compares British, French, and U.S. behavior during military conflicts and diplomatic crises from the Cold War era to the present. He discusses how accountability and agenda control vary between parliamentary, presidential, and premier-presidential democracies and shows how this affects the ability of the democracy to signal its intentions, as well as the likelihood that it will engage in military conflict. His findings have implications for the study of domestic politics and the use of force, as well as of U.S. leadership during the next century. This study will interest social scientists interested in the domestic politics of international security, comparative foreign policy, or the study of domestic institutions. It will interest those concerned with the exercise of U.S. leadership in the next century, the use of force by democracies, and the future behavior of democratizing nations. David P. Auerswald is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University.

Book Disarmed

    Book Details:
  • Author : Kristin Goss
  • Publisher : Princeton University Press
  • Release : 2010-12-16
  • ISBN : 1400837758
  • Pages : 304 pages

Download or read book Disarmed written by Kristin Goss and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-16 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than any other advanced industrial democracy, the United States is besieged by firearms violence. Each year, some 30,000 people die by gunfire. Over the course of its history, the nation has witnessed the murders of beloved public figures; massacres in workplaces and schools; and epidemics of gun violence that terrorize neighborhoods and claim tens of thousands of lives. Commanding majorities of Americans voice support for stricter controls on firearms. Yet they have never mounted a true national movement for gun control. Why? Disarmed unravels this paradox. Based on historical archives, interviews, and original survey evidence, Kristin Goss suggests that the gun control campaign has been stymied by a combination of factors, including the inability to secure patronage resources, the difficulties in articulating a message that would resonate with supporters, and strategic decisions made in the name of effective policy. The power of the so-called gun lobby has played an important role in hobbling the gun-control campaign, but that is not the entire story. Instead of pursuing a strategy of incremental change on the local and state levels, gun control advocates have sought national policies. Some 40% of state gun control laws predate the 1970s, and the gun lobby has systematically weakened even these longstanding restrictions. A compelling and engagingly written look at one of America's most divisive political issues, Disarmed illuminates the organizational, historical, and policy-related factors that constrain mass mobilization, and brings into sharp relief the agonizing dilemmas faced by advocates of gun control and other issues in the United States.

Book Democracy and War

    Book Details:
  • Author : David L. Rousseau
  • Publisher : Stanford University Press
  • Release : 2005-03-24
  • ISBN : 0804767513
  • Pages : 408 pages

Download or read book Democracy and War written by David L. Rousseau and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2005-03-24 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conventional wisdom in international relations maintains that democracies are only peaceful when encountering other democracies. Using a variety of social scientific methods of investigation ranging from statistical studies and laboratory experiments to case studies and computer simulations, Rousseau challenges this conventional wisdom by demonstrating that democracies are less likely to initiate violence at early stages of a dispute. Using multiple methods allows Rousseau to demonstrate that institutional constraints, rather than peaceful norms of conflict resolution, are responsible for inhibiting the quick resort to violence in democratic polities. Rousseau finds that conflicts evolve through successive stages and that the constraining power of participatory institutions can vary across these stages. Finally, he demonstrates how constraint within states encourages the rise of clusters of democratic states that resemble "zones of peace" within the anarchic international structure.

Book Peace or Democracy

Download or read book Peace or Democracy written by Izabela Pereira Watts and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-04-03 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to the common belief that peace and democracy go hand in hand after a civil war, Pereira Watts argues they are, in fact, at a crossroads. Offering an innovative framework based on Philosophical, Actors, and Tactical considerations, Pereira Watts identifies 14 dynamic dilemmas in democratic peacebuilding, with respective trade-offs. She focuses on explaining the contradictions in modern post-conflict recovery, the challenges facing interim governments, and the international community’s role. Based on an analysis of more than 40 countries between 1989 and 2022 and more than 60 UN peace operations, she presents critical issues that commonly need to be addressed in such scenarios: Elections and Political Parties; the Constitution; Checks, Balances and Power-sharing; Transitional Justice; Human Rights, Amnesty, Truth Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals; Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration; and Media Reform and Civil Society. Solving any of these dilemmas leads to others that shape a complex apparatus for restoring peace and installing a new political regime. An essential resource for decision-takers, policymakers, international analysts and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding that will also be of great value to students of International Relations and Peace Studies as well as anyone interested in peacekeeping, democracy-building, and state-building.

Book Hegemony and Democracy

Download or read book Hegemony and Democracy written by Bruce Russett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-03-10 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hegemony and Democracy is constructed around the question of whether hegemony is sustainable, especially when the hegemon is a democratic state. The book draws on earlier publications over Bruce Russett’s long career and features new chapters that show the continuing relevance of his scholarship. In examining hegemony during and after the Cold War, it addresses: The importance of domestic politics in the formulation of foreign policy; The benefits and costs of seeking security through military power at the expense of expanding networks of shared national and transnational institutions; The incentives of other states to bandwagon with a strong but unthreatening hegemon and 'free-ride' on benefits it may provide rather than to balance against a powerful hegemon. The degree to which hegemony and democracy undermine or support each other. By applying theories of collective action and foreign policy, Russett explores the development of American hegemony and the prospects for a democratic hegemon to retain its influence during the coming decades. This collection is an essential volume for students and scholars of International Relations, American Politics, and US Foreign Policy.

Book The Democratic Peace and Territorial Conflict in the Twentieth Century

Download or read book The Democratic Peace and Territorial Conflict in the Twentieth Century written by Paul K. Huth and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Table of contents

Book International Politics

Download or read book International Politics written by Scott P. Handler and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2020-12-23 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do states do what they do? Who are the relevant nonstate actors in international politics and why do they do what they do? What causes conflict and cooperation in the international system? These are some of the most basic questions that the discipline of International Relations (IR) seeks to answer; they are also the questions that drive the objectives, organization and content of this book. International Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings, Second Edition seeks to help students engage critically with some of the world’s most challenging questions through the use of leading classic and contemporary scholarship in the field of international relations. The first five chapters of the book explore the leading theoretical traditions in international relations, while subsequent chapters explore the themes of international security, international political economy, and contemporary challenges in international relations. This organization makes the book easy to use as standalone text or alongside core text. Class-tested on over 10,000 students in the last decade, this text was built from the ground up to introduce students to the traditions and new foundations of international relations as well to the principles of intellectually rigorous thought.

Book Parliamentary Debates

Download or read book Parliamentary Debates written by New Zealand. Parliament and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Getting to War

    Book Details:
  • Author : W. Ben Hunt
  • Publisher : University of Michigan Press
  • Release : 1997-03-24
  • ISBN : 9780472107513
  • Pages : 322 pages

Download or read book Getting to War written by W. Ben Hunt and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1997-03-24 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVShows how we can predict the start of wars by measuring government efforts to secure public support. /div

Book Partisan Interventions

    Book Details:
  • Author : Brian C. Rathbun
  • Publisher : Cornell University Press
  • Release : 2004
  • ISBN : 9780801442551
  • Pages : 248 pages

Download or read book Partisan Interventions written by Brian C. Rathbun and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contesting the national interest : political parties and international relations -- Partisan lenses and historical frames : ideology, experience, and foreign policy preferences -- A faraway place of which we know little? : the politics of humanitarian intervention in Great Britain -- Never again war? : the interparty and intraparty politics of normalization in Germany -- The French exception? : presidential prerogatives and the public and private politics of intervention -- European army, militarized Europe, or European Europe? : the domestic politics of a security and defense policy for the European Union -- Parting ways.

Book Democracy Declassified

Download or read book Democracy Declassified written by Michael P. Colaresi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent scandals like WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden's disclosure of NSA documents have brought public debates over government accountability and secrecy bubbling to the surface. How can modern democracies balance the need for privacy in delicate foreign policy matters with the necessity of openness in gaining and maintaining the trust of citizens? Democracies keep secrets from potential enemies and their citizens. This simple fact challenges the surprisingly prevalent assumption that foreign policy successes and failures can be attributed to public transparency and accountability. In fact, the ability to keep secrets has aided democratic victories from the European and Pacific theatres in World War II to the global competition of the Cold War. At the same time, executive discretion over the capacity to classify information created the opportunity for abuse that contributed to Watergate, as well as domestic spying and repression in France, Norway and Canada over the past forty years. Therefore, democracies face a secrecy dilemma. Secrecy is useful, but once a group or person has the ability to decide what information is concealed from a rival, citizens can no longer monitor that information. How then can the public be assured that national security policies are not promoting hidden corruption or incompetence? As Democracy Declassified shows, it is indeed possible for democracies to keep secrets while also maintaining useful national security oversight institutions that can deter abuse and reassure the public. Understanding secrecy and oversight in democracies helps us explain not only why the Maginot Line rose and the French Republic fell, or how the US stumbled but eventually won the Cold War, but more generally how democracies can benefit from both public consent and necessary national security secrets. At a time when ubiquitous debates over the issue of institutional accountability and transparency have reached a fever pitch, Democracy Declassified provides a grounded and important view on the connection between the role of secrecy in democratic governance and foreign policy-making.

Book The Empire and Its Critics  1899 1939

Download or read book The Empire and Its Critics 1899 1939 written by Peter Cain and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This set defines attitudes about imperialism on the British Left in the 20th century and is vital in understanding the transition from the liberal anti-imperialism of the 19th century to the more overtly socialist critiques of the 20th century.

Book Congress and the Politics of National Security

Download or read book Congress and the Politics of National Security written by David P. Auerswald and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, a growing number of observers and practitioners have called for a reexamination of our national security system. Central to any such reform effort is an evaluation of Congress. Is Congress adequately organized to deal with national security issues in an integrated and coordinated manner? How have developments in Congress over the past few decades, such as heightened partisanship, message politics, party-committee relationships, and bicameral relations, affected topical security issues? This volume examines variation in the ways Congress has engaged federal agencies overseeing our nation's national security as well as various domestic political determinants of security policy.

Book Politics  Markets  and Grand Strategy

Download or read book Politics Markets and Grand Strategy written by Lars S. Skålnes and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do great powers sometimes favor one country over another in the conduct of their foreign economic policies?

Book The Oxford Handbook of U S  National Security

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of U S National Security written by Derek S. Reveron and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National security is pervasive in government and society, but there is little scholarly attention devoted to understanding the context, institutions, and processes the U.S. government uses to promote the general welfare. The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security aims to fill this gap. Coming from academia and the national security community, its contributors analyze key institutions and processes that promote the peace and prosperity of the United States and, by extension, its allies and other partners. By examining contemporary challenges to U.S. national security, contributors consider ways to advance national interests. The United States is entering uncharted waters. The assumptions and verities of the Washington consensus and the early post-Cold War have broken down. After 15 years of war and the inability of two presidents to set a new long-term U.S. foreign policy approach in place, the uncertainties of the Trump administration symbolize the questioning of assumptions that is now going on as Americans work to re-define their place in the world. This handbook serves as a "how to" guide for students and practitioners to understand the key issues and roadblocks confronting those working to improve national security. The first section establishes the scope of national security highlighting the important debates to bridge the practitioner and scholarly approaches to national security. The second section outlines the major national security actors in the U.S. government, describes the legislative authorities and appropriations available to each institution, and considers the organizational essence of each actor to explain behavior during policy discussions. It also examines the tools of national security such as diplomacy, arms control, and economic statecraft. The third section focuses on underlying strategic approaches to national security addressing deterrence, nuclear and cyber issues, and multilateral approaches to foreign policy. The final section surveys the landscape of contemporary national security challenges. This is a critical resource for anyone trying to understand the complex mechanisms and institutions that govern U.S. national security.

Book Why Containment Works

Download or read book Why Containment Works written by Wallace J. Thies and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why Containment Works examines the conduct of American foreign policy during and after the Cold War through the lens of applied policy analysis. Wallace J. Thies argues that the Bush Doctrine after 2002 was a theory of victory—a coherent strategic view that tells a state how best to transform scarce resources into useful military assets, and how to employ those assets in conflicts. He contrasts prescriptions derived from the Bush Doctrine with an alternative theory of victory, one based on containment and deterrence, which US presidents employed for much of the Cold War period. There are, he suggests, multiple reasons for believing that containment was working well against Saddam Hussein's Iraq after the first Gulf War and that there was no need to invade Iraq in 2003. Thies reexamines five cases of containment drawn from the Cold War and the post-Cold War world. Each example, Thies suggests, offered US officials a choice between reliance on traditional notions of containment and reliance on a more forceful approach. To what extent did reliance on rival theories of victory—containment versus first strike—contribute to a successful outcome? Might these cases have been resolved more quickly, at lower cost, and more favorably to American interests if US officials had chosen a different mix of the coercive and deterrent tools available to them? Thies suggests that the conventional wisdom about containment was often wrong: a superpower like the United States has such vast resources at its disposal that it could easily thwart Libya, Iraq, and Iran by means other than open war.