Democracy and Foreign Policy
Although all states use diplomacy, economy, and force to conduct foreign policy, do policy choices vary by type of government? Specifically, do democratic states conduct foreign policy and make policy choices that are any different from the choices and policies made by authoritarian states and leaders? We might expect that in democratic states, the intangible sources of power—national image, public support, and leadership—may matter more since leaders are responsible to the public through elections. If true, then is the foreign policy behavior of democratic states any different from the behavior of nondemocratic or authoritarian states?