Democratic Peace

Regime

the kind of government a country has (democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, etc.).

Dyad

A pair of countries. The Democratic Peace Theory looks at how two countries (a dyad) interact.

Democratic Peace Theory (DPT)

• Main idea: Democracies (countries where people vote) do not go to war with each other.

• Why? Democracies prefer to talk things out, and leaders don’t want to lose elections by making bad war decisions.

Empirical Record of DPT

• This means looking at real-world data to see if the theory is true.

• Studies show that democracies almost never fight each other but still go to war with dictatorships.

Immanuel Kant

A philosopher who said that democracies are more peaceful because people don’t want war.

Rally-round-the-flag effect

When leaders use war to make people support them, even if the war is not necessary.

what is the Dyadic Model Explanation of DPT

This model explains why democracies don’t fight each other.

Normative Argument

Democracies believe in solving problems through discussion, not war.

Structural Argument

Democracies have systems that slow down war decisions.

Audience Costs

Leaders in democracies answer to voters. If they start a bad war, they might lose the next election.

Operationalizing

Turning a theory into something measurable (like checking how many wars democracies fight).

Zones of Peace

Areas where many democracies exist and war is rare (like Europe after World War II).