POLS 2940 Lecture Notes - Democratic Peace Theory, Liberal Democracy
7 Apr 2014
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Document Summary
Why does the military dominate the question of security. Liberal idea that citizens of democratic states dint want to go to war(persists today) Man: human nature to cause war and conflict. If our violent nature is not a cause of war, the state is a cause of war. Democratic peace theory- democratic peace theorists argue liberal democratic states have never gone to war with one another. Best way to create peace is to spread liberal democracy(by force if necessary). This belief is accepted by canadian and us politicians. Theory of war because states engage in war if one of them is not a liberal democratic state, also a prescription to foreign policy. Argument picked up in 1980s by michael doyle. This is not a theory, but a correlation. Waltz theory: argued that the unchanging nature of the international system is all you need to know(neo realism/ structural realism). States should follow their interests because nothing can stop them.
