• Media type: E-Book; Report
  • Title: Democracy and International Conflict
  • Contributor: Vesperoni, Alberto [Author]; Wärneryd, Karl [Author]
  • imprint: Munich: Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), 2016
  • Language: English
  • Keywords: democracy ; F51 ; conflict ; contest ; war ; O15 ; D72 ; franchise extension ; D74
  • Origination:
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  • Description: During the past two centuries, western nations have successively extended the voting franchise to citizens of lower income. We explain this process of democratization as a rational way for incumbent elites to wage war effectively on other nations, as in a strategic game of international conflict handing over military spending decisions to citizens who face a lower tax cost of arming may confer a strategic delegation advantage. We find supporting empirical evidence in case studies of franchise extensions in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.
  • Access State: Open Access