Democracy and peace: Reply to oneal and russett

Patrick James, Eric Solberg and Murray Wolfson

Defence and Peace Economics, 2000, vol. 11, issue 1, 215-229

Abstract: The criticism of James, Solberg and Wolfson (JSW) (1999) by Oneal and Russett (OR) is not responsive to the methodologica] issues at stake. JSW argued that war is an endogenous feature of the world political and economic system. If its causes are to be measured, it must be as a structural equation in a simultaneous system. Wedded to the idea that “democracies never fight each other,” OR rely on a single equation to justify their view. JSW claim that such an equation may be an ad hoc reduced form with no causal implications unless the equation is explicitly identified as a structural equation. JSW expand the model to explain democracy and conflict as two endogenous variables. JSW do not claim to have discovered the true relationships between these variables by their minimal expansion of the structural relation. They do show that unless these (and other) variables are treated as part of a system, the results are unstable, contradictory, of minimal size and not a reliable guide to public policy.

Keywords: Peace-democracy; International relations; Simultaneous system; Identification problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1080/10430710008404948

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