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This is a partial list of military conflicts which, according to opponents of the Democratic peace theory, constitute exceptions to the claim that, "Democracies do not make war on each other." The argument of DPT critics is that even one exception is sufficient to disprove the theory, and they believe they have provided at least one exception. That is, the critics maintain that the size of the "list of wars between democracies" is greater than zero.

Due to widely varying definitions of the classifications "democracy" and "war", there is substantial debate in the literature regarding criteria for inclusion in this list (for more information, see the debate over democratic peace theory, which asserts that democracies tend not to go to war with one another). Inclusion of each item in this list should thus be understood as indicating that it is the subject of debate, rather than as an authoritative statement as to its correct classification. For each item, a brief overview is offered as well as arguments for and against its inclusion, as appropriate.

Early Democracy

Wars involving the Athenian democracy

Most notable of these was the Sicilian Expedition, 415 BC-413 BC, Many of the city-states in Ancient Greece had democratic political systems. One researcher, Bruce Russet, finds 13 conflicts between "clear" democratic pairs (most of these being Athens and allies in the Sicilian Expedition) and 25 involving "other" democratic pairs.

Athens, like other Greek democracies, was a direct democracy in which decisions on war and peace were taken by an Assembly of the people. Their chief advisors were ten (elected) generals, and orators who held no office, and were under "more direct and immediate control" by their constituents than modern statesmen. Athenian citizens had properly formalized rights, including political, legal, property rights and freedom of speech.

The researcher James Lee Ray argues that these states had little resemblance to modern liberal democracies. The city states in Ancient Greece had large numbers of non-voting slaves and metics. At most half, and probably less, of the adult males in Athens could vote. He argues that in classical times the modern concept of liberties or natural rights did not exist. Decisions in these ancient city states were formed mainly either by leaders selected by allotment or by direct democracy. Both methods are very different from decisions made by leaders selected by elections.

Wars involving the Roman Republic

In particular, the Punic Wars, 264 BC-146 BC, with over 1000 deaths in battle. The leaders in both Rome and Carthage were elected. However, both states are usually considered oligarchies. The Roman Republic had large numbers of non-voting slaves, former slaves, Italian allies, and foreigners. Roman citizens had different political rights based on heredity and wealth. The Roman Senate had considerable power and was dominated by noble families. See also the discussion in Never at War regarding whether there is enough information about Carthage to determine the exact form of government there at the start of each of these wars.

20th Century

Polish-Lithuanian War

Fought in 1920, with about 1000 estimated battle deaths. In both states, elections had been held with universal suffrage. In the polity scale, Poland received a +8 rating in combined democracy/autocracy in 1920, while Lithuania received a +7 in democracy and a +4 in combined democracy/autocracy. The conflict is by both Polish and Lithuanian historians seen as a part of the wars of independence from the Soviet Union (see the article on the Polish-Lithuanian War).

Paquisha War

War fought in 1981 between Ecuador and Peru. The leaders of both countries had been democratically elected. Ecuador receives a rating of +9 in the polity scale of combined democracy/autocracy, while Peru receives a +7, meaning that both countries are classified as democratic, and Ecuador even as "very democratic". However, the "war" involved only as high as two hundred deaths in battle. Furthermore, the Peruvian democracy was less than one year old and the Ecuadorian less than 3 years. In addition, both nations lacked democratic control over their militaries. p. 70, 316.

References

1. Versions by Spencer Weart, James Lee Ray, and R. J. Rummell deny that this ever happens; other forms assert strong correlations between democracy and mutual peace. Thomas Heine Nielsen, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, p. 85
2. Oxford Classical Dictionary, "Democracy, Athenian". M.I. Finley Democracy, Ancient and Modern, 1973, p. 18 (quote; and cited by Ray),
3. Blackwell, Christopher. "Athenian Democracy: a brief overview" (PDF). Dēmos: classical Athenian Democracy. Retrieved 2006-07-28.
4. McManus, Barbara F. Social Classes in the Late Republic
5. UNRV, Roman Slavery
6. kondrat/Rome Government
7. Pennell, Robert F. Ancient Rome
8. ^ "Polity IV Project". Retrieved March 4, 2006.
9. Weart, Spencer R. (1998). Never at War. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07017-9.

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• Political theories