Democracy and imperialism: Mercenaries and conscripts in the making and unmaking of empire

The "war-proneness" of democratic political regimes remains an intense source of controversy. How can democracies be so imperialistic toward peripheral societies while so pacifist toward other democracies? Building on Kant's dictum that constraints on the ruler are critical, the thesis compares the domestic political response in Britain during the Boer War, in France during the Algerian War and in the United States during the Vietnam War. These three cases were each the most expensive imperial endeavor for their democratic metropoles. These cases are contrasted with the only two cases of contemporary autocratic imperialism in the periphery - Japan in East Asia (1931-45) and Portugal (1961-74).;It was found that democracies have been very imperialistic vis-a-vis the weakest members of the global hierarchy by utilizing mercenary soldiers and colonial collaborators. Yet, as the costs of empire rose in the 20th century towards the point where draftees became necessary to maintain domination (i.e. when imperial policies began to effect the daily lives of metropolitan citizens), democratic rulers have opted out of empire. In the cases of France in the 1950's and the United States in the 1960's, imperial retreat was compelled by domestic social upheaval and not military defeat.;By contrast, imperial Japan and fascist Portugal imposed much higher costs in terms of military spending, conscription and deaths for longer periods of time during their ordeals with empire. Thus, democratic internal deterrence is greatest with conscripted troops. This helps to explain the end of empire as a means of political organization in the 20th century and to insure pan-democratic pacifism. When extrapolated to conflicts among the great powers, the theory predicts democratic major war-aversion. Indeed, all major wars have been initiated by autocratic political regimes. Thus, democracy suppresses war-proneness and as such is a necessary but not sufficient condition for peace.