REGIME TYPES AND STATUS-QUO EVALUATIONS - POWER TRANSITION THEORY ANDTHE DEMOCRATIC PEACE

A tremendous amount of attention is paid to whether or not joint democ racy precludes wars within dyads. Although there now seems to be some measure of consensus that democracies rarely or never fight one anothe r, the scholarly debate continues to be heated, lengthy, and occasiona lly negative. Part of the reason why the democratic peace proposition has met so much opposition might lie in the threat it poses to many es tablished theories of international relations. However, the empirical phenomenon of the democratic peace may be compatible with at least one established theory of international relations: power transition theor y. If it can be shown that democracies evaluate the status quo similar ly, then power transition theory predicts that wars between them shoul d be exceedingly rare. Further, if non-democracies comprise the bulk o f states dissatisfied with the status quo, then wars between democraci es and non-democracies are to be expected. Regime type is tentatively linked to status quo evaluations in this article, suggesting that it m ay be possible to incorporate the empirical observation of a democrati c peace within power transition theory. Rather than contradicting esta blished theory, the results associated with the democratic peace might indicate how strong an influence the status quo plays in restraining international conflict.