If all countries were democracies, there would still be war - Essay Example

Does it follow then that if all the countries in the world were democracies, there would be no war pitting one with the other Is democratic peace possible I would argue in this paper that while there is still the possibility of war in this scenario, it is less likely to occur as compared to a scenario wherein undemocratic countries exist. My line of thinking would be what Achen (1986) called as the selection-effects argument. An analysis of conflicts would show that most wars pitted one form of regime with another and that democracies tend to win more often than other political systems.

They do so because they are more careful in deciding whether to initiate war. They select their position by evaluating the effects and oftentimes democracies find wars as a risky venture. The studies of deterrence of Fearon (1994) and the democratic peace by Rousseau et al. (1996) point out the role that democratic electoral institutions play in limiting the possibility of war between democracies. . However, I do not claim that this fear eliminates the possibility of war but it does show that only when they are sure of victory would democracies involve themselves.

The crucial point is that when countries do become democracies, they become more efficient in waging war because they become more cautious and conduct more evaluations on the likeliness of victory. A good example of how this works was shown in the 1898 Fashoda Crisis when democratic France evaded war with the British after their evaluation have shown them they military inferior. This shows that democracies tend to be more peaceful and diplomatic with others because their political institutions constrain leaders from pursuing belligerent foreign policies.

A second argument is that democracies practices freedom of expression and offer higher quality and quantity of information. There are many benefits from the abundance of quality information one of which is enabling government agencies to make better policies. This is possible because democracies allow for the vigorous discussion of alternative and provide for an open dissemination of ideas. A free press, one of the salient features of democracies, provides another deterrent for waging war. When the media has limited government control and censorship, they are more likely to expose the flaws regarding foreign and local policies and improve governance in the process.

Statistical studies conducted by Snyder (1991) and Van Evera (1994) indicate that the propensity for foolhardy wars decreases as media censorship decreases. Reiter (1995) showed in an empirical study that media expositions pressure government officials to release higher quality and less biased information. In contrast, nondemocratic regimes have