Grasping the Democratic Peace [Paperback]

Bruce Russett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0691001642 | ISBN-13: 978-0691001647

By illuminating the conflict-resolving mechanisms inherent in the relationships between democracies, Bruce Russett explains one of the most promising developments of the modern international system: the striking fact that the democracies that it comprises have almost never fought each other.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Russett finds this [the proposition that democracies do not fight each other] to be an extraordinarily robust conclusion.... [The book] presents a challenge to realists while providing a rigorous undergirding to what has become a widespread view. -- Francis Fukuyama, Foreign Affairs



The ambition and scope of the study provides the illuminating and unexpected insights into the relationships between war and democracy. -- Roland Dannreuther, Survival



The descriptive phase of scholarly research on the absence of war between democratic dyads has been largely completed, and attention is now shifting to alternative explanations for this well-confirmed empirical generalization. The best place to begin, both for a summary of the descriptive evidence and for an attempt to explain it, is Bruce Russett's Grasping the Democratic Peace. -- Jack S. Levy, International Studies Review



Bruce Russett's laudable book summarizes, dissects, and expands our understanding of the disinclination shown by democracies to fight each other, a finding that has spawned a minor cottage industry of analytic studies. . . . the book combines rigor and relevance, maturity and originality. . . . -- American Political Science Review



In Grasping the Democratic Peace, Bruce Russett has published a powerful book clarifying the theoretical debate and producing additional support for the relative pacifism of democracies from previously untapped sources. The book will quickly claim a secure place in the literature for its insight and empirical originality. No student of international relations can fail to profit from a close read. -- -David A. Lake, The Journal of Politics

From the Back Cover

"A very important book on a timely subject by a well-known and rigorous scholar. The book addresses a subject that has been of great interest recently both to academics and in policy circles: whether democracies ever fight wars with each other; and if not, why not."--Jack L. Snyder, Columbia University

"The best book yet written on the important question of why democracies appear not to fight wars with each other even though they do fight with non-democratic states. . . . This is a highly original and provocative work that is bound to stimulate much discussion and debate."--Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Hoover Insitution and University of Rochester

"This is a sophisticated and interesting book on what is undoubtedly the hot topic among students of international relations. Given the book's subject and its high quality, Grasping the Democratic Peace will be essential reading."--Aaron Friedberg, Princeton University

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (November 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691001642
• ISBN-13: 978-0691001647
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nice summary, June 6, 2000

By 

David Sobek - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grasping the Democratic Peace (Paperback)

This book is a collection of Russet's earlier work on the democratic peace, the finding that no two democracy have ever gone to war with one another, with an emphasis on those works that expand the empirical realm of testing. The first two chapters essentially summarize the literature on the democratic peace (up until 1993) explaining both its empirical roots and the theoretical arguments. After summarizing the normative and structural explanations, Russett (with William Antholis) attempts to discover if the democratic peace extended to Ancient Greece. Finding only minor support Russett hypothesizes that peace needs not only the simple institutions of democracy, but also the perception, by other democracies, of the type of regime. Without the mutual recognition the norms and institutions democracy may fail to prevent conflict. Russett (with Zeev Maoz) then applies the democratic peace to the post World War II era and finds that joint democracy does in fact promote peace. The last empirical study in the book deals with non-industrial societies (done with Carol and Melvin Ember). While it remains difficult to gain a strong relationship, they do find that participation, joint participatory societies, matters in reducing conflict. In general, this book is a good summary of Russett's early work on the democratic peace and provides some interesting tests as the theory is applied to non-nation-state eras. For those new to this literature it is a good place to start.