Peace and Prosperity in an Age of Incivility [Paperback]

William Eric Davis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0761832483 | ISBN-13: 978-0761832485 | Publication Date: December 14, 2005

Peace and Prosperity in an Age of Incivility presents a comprehensive theory about peace and prosperity. It asserts that three core political values-liberty, order, and equality- must be allocated by societies through law and policy. This book shows that the optimal allocation is pure balance. Balance of values provides the origin of the "democratic peace," the observation that democracies rarely fight each other and when they do, it is brief, does not escalate, and quickly results in a diplomatic resolution. By building on simple forms of spatial and game theories, this stunning analysis shows that the democratic peace is a "Nash equilibrium," where no player has an incentive to deviate from the solution, given the choices of other "players." Democracy, because it fosters compromise, drives the political values of liberty, order, and equality to intersect in perfect, or at least relative, balance. Maximum peace and prosperity is the consequence of balancing critical values. A nation's level of peace and prosperity, while perhaps not great, will be no greater than when these core values are in balance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Eric Davis is Professor in the Department of Philosophical / Regional Studies, Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas. Professor Davis holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from the University of Tennessee / Knoxville.

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (December 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761832483
• ISBN-13: 978-0761832485
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,458,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Explanation of Peace and Prosperity, March 27, 2006

By 

William E. Davis "Game Player" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peace and Prosperity in an Age of Incivility (Paperback)

This book brings together cultural theories, economic theories, social theories and methodological theories (basic game theory and spatial theory) to make a remarkable claim: that balancing the values of liberty, order/virtue, and equality in a nation's policy and law maximizes a nation's peace and prosperity. It is simultaneously an explanation of peace and violence as well as prosperity and poverty. It explains how the United States has achieved the most perfect balance and how this put the US at the top of most of the positive economic, social and political indicators and near the bottom of the negative indicators. It explains the democratic peace: the notion that democracies rarely fight each other in military confrontations and when they do, it is brief, does not escalate and is resolved diplomatically with the disputants becoming allies or even friends again. It offers a guide to societies seeking peace and prosperity and that program is one of moderation and balance. It includes a wide-ranging discussion of Western and American culture, but its greatest contribution is to show that the democratic peace and its basis, the balance of values, is (for those familiar with game thoery) a "Nash Equilibrium" as well as a "structure-induced equilibrium and a self-enforcing majority equilibrium. This makes the balance of values and democracy the ultimate destiny of all nations.

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY Informative, July 17, 2006

By 

Chris The Professor (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peace and Prosperity in an Age of Incivility (Paperback)

The book explains the reasons for political conflict within nations and across nations. It explains the reasons for the cultural and military conflict now ongoing in the Middle East and how it is little different from conflicts in other parts of the world. This is because these conflicts, and all political conflicts in general, have the same type of motivators. The first three chapters brilliantly discuss American culture and that topic is interweaved throughout all the other chapters while it is also related to how political conflict can be avoided. Accordingly, if the offered recipe is followed, a nation can receive the prosperity benefits that come from doing so. Although the author uses the intellectual approaches of game theory and spatial theory (with nice little illustrations to make it easy to follow along), he does it in a way that even a novice who has never been exposed to those approaches can understand. This book represents a nice merger among history, culture, and rational choice approaches to understanding our political and social world.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every social science book collection, April 29, 2006

By 

L. Pitch "lisandboo" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peace and Prosperity in an Age of Incivility (Paperback)

This book utilizes game theory and spatial theory to provide a comprehensive theory of peace and prosperity. It explains complicated phenomena in easy to grasp language. It borrows from multiple disciplines, so it can be used for general purposes and as a textbook for both undergraduate and gradutate level courses. It points the way for nations to maximize economic, political, and social modernization. If the recipe is followed by most or all nations, the world will a better place.