"War has diverse and seemingly contradictory effects on liberal democratic institutions and processes. It has led democracies to abandon their principles, expanding executive authority and restricting civil liberties, but it has also prompted the development of representative parliamentary institutions. It has undercut socioeconomic reform, but it has also laid the basis for the modern welfare state. This landmark volume brings together distinguished political scientists, historians, and sociologists to explore the impact of war on liberal democracy - a subject far less studied than the causes of war but hardly less important. Three questions drive the analysis: How does war shape the transition to and durability of democracy? How does war influence democratic contestation? How does war transform democratic participation? Employing a wide range of methods, this volume assesses what follows in the wake of war. It is an urgent question for scholars, and even more for citizens, especially in our anxious post-9/11 age"-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: war and democracy in comparative perspective Elizabeth Kier and Ronald Krebs; Part I. War and Democratic Transitions: New and Durable Democracies?: 2. Does war influence democratization? Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder; 3. Dodging a bullet: democracy's gains in modern war Paul Starr; 4. Armed conflict and the durability of electoral democracy Nancy Bermeo; Part II. War and Democratic Publics: Reshaping Political Participation?: 5. The effects of war on civil society: cross-national evidence from World War II Rieko Kage; 6. Veterans, human rights, and the tranformation of European democracy Jay Winter; 7. War and reform: gaining labor's compliance on the homefront Elizabeth Kier; 8. Spinning Mars: democracy in Britain and the United States and the economic lessons of war Mark Wilson; Part III. War and Democratic States: Government by the People or over the People?: 9. International conflict and the constitutional balance: executive authority after war Ronald R. Krebs; 10. Claims and capacity: war, national policing institutions, and democracy Daniel Kryder; 11. War, recruitment systems, and democracy Deborah Avant; Concluding reflections: 12. What wars do Miguel Angel Centeno.