The Democratic Peace Theory - 954 Words

The democratic peace theory was not always seen as the substantial argument and significant contribution to the field of International Relations that it is today. Prior to the 1970’s, it was the realist and non-realist thought that took preeminence in political theoretical thinking. Though the democratic peace theory was first criticized for being inaccurate in its claim that democracy promotes peace and as such democracies do not conflict with each other, trends, statistical data, reports have suggested and proved that the democratic peace theory is in fact valid in its claim. Over the years having been refined, developed and amended, it is now most significant in explaining modern politics and it is easy to accept that there is indeed a†¦show more content†¦There are also different levels of analysis when it comes to the democratic peace theory. On one hand the there is a ‘dyadic’ which refers to democratic states have good and peaceful relations with other democratic states while the opposite is true of their relations with non-democratic states. Secondly there is a ‘monadic’ way of analyzing the democratic peace theory. In this case, democracies are peaceful states overall and will only go into conflict with democratic or undemocratic states when threatened or under attack. Immanuel Kant’s work is often said to be the starting point of the democratic peace theory. In his essays, he proposes his peace plan by listing out six preliminary articles which he argued were steps that had to be taken immediately. He also listed three definitive articles which included that the civil constitution of every state should be republican, that the law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states and lastly that the law of world citizenship shall be limited to conditions of universal hospitality, upon these, the foundation of peace could be built. Although Immanuel Kant never mentioned ‘democracy’ per say, his ideas were very similar to ideas that pertain to democracy. He referred to republican states which were to be representative governments and where there was a separation of powers. An issue thatShow MoreRelatedEssay about The concept of the Democratic Peace Theory1763 Words   |  8 Pages Democratic Peace Theory The concept of the Democratic Peace Theory is based on the idea that whether states are likely to go to war or choose peace depends on the type of political system they have. There are three sub divisions 1) Monadic; Democracies that tend to be generally peaceful and are not likely to go to war, although people (can you identify people) who argue this only examine the years 1960-1970. 2) Dyadic; This version is the most accepted amongst theorists, very peaceful among oneRead MoreDemocratic Peace Theory1319 Words   |  6 Pagesto pick and choose their friends and enemies. Preventing conflict between two democracies or countries that practice democracy is called Democratic Peace Theory. However, research has begun to show that Democratic Peace Theory is ineffective and needs to be brought to an end as a model for how international relations are formed or destroyed. Democratic Peace Theory needs to be abolished as a support for forming foreign policy between democracies because of the burden placed on both parties to comeRead MoreThe Theory Of Democratic Peace2860 Words   |  12 PagesThe Theory of Democratic Peace has been a topic of much debate over the years. Why is this? There are many opinions on this theory and many questions are raised when speaking about it. The argument that I pose is, is there such a thing as democratic peace? In order to address my arg ument and in order to critically analyse Democratic Peace Theory, this piece of academic writing will look at a variety of causes that some theorists’ state are behind the Democratic Peace Theory and will look at the differentRead MoreDemocratic Peace Theory2212 Words   |  9 PagesThe democratic peace theory was not always seen as the substantial argument and significant contribution to the field of International Relations that it is today. Prior to the 1970’s, it was realist and non-realist thought that took preeminence in political theoretical thinking. Though the democratic peace theory was first criticized for being inaccurate in its claim that democracy promotes peace and as such democracies do not conflict with each other, trends, statistical data, reports have suggestedRead MoreTheory of Democratic Peace2965 Words   |  12 PagesPolitical Science 23 April 2013 Final Paper Theory of Democratic Peace The idea of democratic peace was brought up in the enlightened era. The theory of democratic peace was based off of Immanuel Kant’s â€Å"Perpetual Peace.† The theory of democratic peace argues that nation-states governed by democratic regimes do not tend to have conflicts with other countries that would lead to wars. With this theory, it shows that nation-states with a democratic rule are more likely to not go to war with otherRead MorePeace Among States: The Democratic Peace Theory Essay525 Words   |  3 Pagesknown to contribute to peace among states are very controversial. Some of the well-known factors to affect how peaceful states are with one another is the type of regime a state is under and whether they are in possession of nuclear weapons, ironically. According to the democratic peace theory, â€Å"democracies rarely, if ever, enter into war against each other† (Chan, 59). They are more likely to wage war with non-democratic states such as communi st states, rather than a democratic one. Therefore thisRead MoreEssay about Democratic Peace Theory3056 Words   |  13 Pageswritings of Immanuel Kant over two hundred years ago in essay ‘On Perpetual Peace’, however, only in the early 1980s and with the writings of Michael Doyle was the idea consolidated. According to Doyle and other advocates of the democratic peace theory, liberal democratic states have been able to maintain peaceful relations amongst themselves, but are prone to wage war against non-democratic regimes. In order to prove this theory, vast databases have been constructed of historical dyadic relationshipsRead MoreThe Struggle Of Democratic Peace796 Words   |  4 PagesAlthough countries in South America are not democratic for most of the last century, it has the fewest inter-state wars there, which can be explained by geopolitics with balance-of-power, the trade-off between benefits and costs, and relations among countries in this area. According to the theory of Democratic Peace, since democratic leaders have a larger wining coalitions, in order to keep in office, they need to gain support from selectorate, and â€Å"democratic leaders facing with war are more inclinedRead MoreNot So Unlikely : Total World Peace1071 Words   |  5 PagesNot so Unlikely Total world peace may not be such a radical expectation for the next century s generations. A world filled with cooperation and progressivism from all individuals is arguably just around the corner as humans approach such a strange and peaceful times. As history unfolds there is a substantial drop in the trendiness of wanting to kill one another for resources, political differences and proving a point; which can all also be attributed to the increase in population in relation theRead MoreCriticisms Of Kant s Perpetual Peace1304 Words   |  6 PagesImmanuel Kant outlines a number of articles that he hypothesises could lead towards a perpetual peace. There are many criticisms of Kant’s perpetual peace, many argue that it is to idealistic and utopian. However, Kant doesn’t deny these claims. Instead Kant argues that if this ‘perpetual peace’ is even a remote possibility then for the good of mankind, we have a duty to try make it a reality. For perpetual peace to be worth pursuing, it needs to be remotely possible. In order for it to be possible it