Casualties and Constituencies

Michael Koch and Scott Sigmund Gartner
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Michael Koch: Department of Political Science Texas A&M University
Scott Sigmund Gartner: Department of Political Science University of California, Davis

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2005, vol. 49, issue 6, 874-894

Abstract: Electoral institutions influence legislators’ constituency size and makeup and, as a result, affect the lens that representatives look through to assess the costs of military conflict. Given the uneven distribution of casualties during a conflict, the costs of international violence vary between constituencies and thus affect representatives differently. The authors develop a constituency-based theory of legislator accountability and legislature behavior that predicts when democracies are willing to pay human costs in an interstate conflict and their likelihood of being involved in a dispute. The results suggest that the more diffuse political account-ability, the less likely a state is to get involved in a militarized dispute, but that once involved, the more likely a state will sustain casualties. The authors’theory suggests that choices over the mechanisms of political representation have far-reaching effects on political accountability and foreign policy.

Keywords: casualties; legislatures; accountability; selection effects; conscription; militarized interstate disputes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jocore:v:49:y:2005:i:6:p:874-894

DOI: 10.1177/0022002705281149

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