Democracies and War Participation:

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Abstract
Two explanations have been advanced for the `democratic peace'; one is built on shared values and norms of democratic political systems, the other focuses on the constraints under which democratic political leaders make decisions or hold office. Constraints theory implies that democracies should be generally more peaceful, while previous analyses indicate they are as warlike as other states, except in their dealings with each other. However, constraints theory cannot be dismissed on this basis because extant empirical research has not distinguished between (1) various levels of war participation and (2) the different latitudes of choice available to leaders. An empirical analysis of international wars in the period 1816-1974 supports the expectations and strengthens the argument about the effects of institutional constraints in relation to expected losses in war. The article concludes with the suggestion that the shared values and norms explanation might be weakened if analysis was extended to include colonial wars.

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