Reading and Misreading the Ancient Evidence for Democratic Peace Author(s): Eric Robinson Source: Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 38, No. 5 (Sep., 2001), pp. 593-608 Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/424777 . Accessed: 10/03/2011 14:40 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltd. 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Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Peace Research. http://www.jstor.org f^^^^BSS ? 2001 Journalof PeaceResearch, vol. 38, no. 5, 2001, pp. 593-608 SagePublications (London, Thousand Oaks, CAand New Delhi) [0022-3433(200109)38:5; 593-608; 019468] ...JL.^C^<frA<e'il^ Reading and Misreading the Ancient Evidence for Democratic Peace* ERIC ROBINSON Department of History ?&Department of the Classics, Harvard University In the course of the debate over the existence and possible explanationsfor democratic peace (the ten- dency of democracies not to fight wars with one another), some scholarshave looked to the world of Classical Greece to bolster their claims about the phenomenon. This article critiques the best of these efforts, looking at the way the ancient evidence has been handled and the conclusions drawn therefrom. It is argued that while the ancient world is an entirely appropriateera to investigatewith regardto the issue, the analysesoffered thus far have not made a strong case for the existence of a Greek democratic peace. Indeed, contraryto what investigatorshad hoped to show, the evidence from the period in and around the Peloponnesian war indicates that not only did ancient democracies go to war with each other, they did so with relativelyhigh frequency.Both quantitativeand more traditionalliterary analy- ses support this conclusion. These resultsdo not so much attack the generalnotion of democraticpeace as offer a more fruitful way of using ancient history to help explain it: by focusing on the differences between ancient and modern democracies and their historical settings, future studies may be able to identify the factorswhich encourage or discouragedemocratic peace. Introduction into the ancient Greekworld. This is entirely logical: the classical period represents the The debate about 'democraticpeace' - the only other eraof history in which fully demo- that democraciesnever, or phenomenon very cratic states are known to have flourished.It to war with one another- has been rarely,go also had its share of warfare, and ancient fully joined for over a decade now. Two ques- authors wrote many volumes of history tions have driven it: is it true that (1) really devoted to conflicts between rival states. something about democratic government Thus there is the reasonableexpectation that prevents or inhibits warfare with other scrutinyof the ancient Greekworld will yield and that demo- democracies; (2) assuming additionalevidence in the debate over demo- cratic peace is real, how exactly do we cratic peace. account for the phenomenon?While the dis- Naturally,some of the practicesof ancient cussion of these issueshas centeredon usually and moderndemocracies have varied, but this modern states of the last two centuriesor so, has not deterred scholars from looking to some studies have extended their inquiries Greecefor possibleinsights about democratic * I thankthe followingpeople for theirhelpfull comments at peace, nor should it. Divergencesinclude the various stages of this article's composition: Andrew Grant- tendencyof ancient demokratiaito be smaller Thomas,Nino Luraghi,Michael McCormick, Ernest May, and readersfor the JournalofPeace Research. Responsibility and operate far more directly than most for any deficiencies remains entirely my own. modern counterparts,with ordinarycitizens 593 594 journal of PEACE RESEARCH volume38 / number5 / september2001 assembling to decide the issues of the day the light of contemporary alternatives, themselves rather than leaving all governing demokratia'sessential similarity to modern to elected representatives.The ancients also democracy is inescapable, justifying the practicedslavery and excluded women from willingnessof scholarsof democraticpeace to having a share in government. While these reflecton what might be learnedfrom Greek and other factors are important to keep in events.1 mind - and will be revisitedlater in this article The first question that must be addressed, in regardto their potential impact on demo- then, is whether the patternnoted in modern craticpeace - they need not dissuadeanyone history that democraticstates tend not to go from observing the tendencies of the Greek to war - touted by some as coming 'asclose as examples. This is because the fundamental anythingwe have to an empiricallaw in inter- kinship of ancient and modern democracyis national relations'2- is equallydemonstrable obvious when one considersthe sharedprin- in the ancient world. Some have claimed that ciples visibly at work in both. These include the most absoluteformulation of the pattern, the notion that government is to be in the that true democracieshave neverfought each hands of the many ratherthan the few or the other, applies to the ancient world just as it one; venerationof the ideals of freedom and does the modern. Spencer Weart (1998) equalityamong citizens;and inclusionwithin maintainsas much in his book NeverAt War, the politicalbody of the broadestcategories of which examines the phenomenon in all eras residentsplausible given the social realitiesof of history and devotes a crucialearly chapter the era. Such characteristicsunite democra- to ancient Greece.3 Other proponents of cies ancient and modern and distinguish democratic peace have been more cautious, them clearly from the perennial alternatives though they too find supportfor the hypoth- (oligarchy, autocracy,theocracy, etc.). Even esis in ancient evidence. Bruce Russett, who the divergencesnoted earlierare not as drastic has been at the centerof the democraticpeace as might be thought: ancient democratic debate for years,closely examinedthe behav- governments often employed councils of ior of ancient Greek states in his article, co- elected or allotted citizens, so the principleof authored by William Antholis, 'Do representationwas far from alien; and many Democracies Fight Each Other? Evidence modern democraciesexhibit a taste for direct citizen action, as the increasinguse of ballot 1 This issue, of course,will bear discussionat far greater length than the presentoccasion allows. For detailed treat- initiatives and referenda shows. Further, ments of the ideals and definition of ancient democracy slaveryand the political exclusion of women (demokratia),with comparisonsto modern versions,see were not featuresof demokratiaper se, but of Robinson (1997: chs 1 and 2), Hansen (1989, 1996), Ostwald(1996), and Murray(1995). Greek civilization as a whole, and indeed of 2 This oft-quotedphrase comes from Levy (1988: 662). most civilizationsuntil very recent times. If While statisticalanalyses do show a low incidence of warfarebetween modern democracies, not everyoneagrees one refusesthe name democracyto any state that populargovernment itself is the cause.See the promi- that toleratedslavery or limited participation nent critiquesof Layne (1994) and Spiro (1994), with on the basis of gender, one eliminates from responsesand furtherdiscussion in InternationalSecurity 19(4): 164-184. More recentreactions, explanations, and historical consideration almost all popular reviews include Farber& Gowa (1996), Chan (1997), governmentsprior to the verylatest versions - Gartzke(1998), Maoz (1998), Hegre (2000), and Russett and even of if continuously & Oneal (2001). many these, 3 Weart(1998). Chapter2 is devoted to ancient Greece, evolving views of social justice are to be the and classicalexamples crop up elsewherein the book.Weart criteria, might well be eliminated on one (1998: 13, 20, 298) admitsonly that theremay have been some 'doubtful' or 'ambiguous'cases of ancient Greek ground or another. In sum, when viewed democraticwars. Similar views are expressed more briefly in strictly as a political order and consideredin his earlierarticle (Weart, 1994). Eric Robinson ANCIENT EVIDENCE FOR DEMOCRATIC PEACE 595 from the Peloponnesian War', which was an entirelynew line of inquiry,and that only reprintedwith some additionsas a chapterin in the last decadeor so have numerouspoliti- Russett'sbook Graspingthe DemocraticPeace cal scientists and historians become inter- (Russett& Antholis, 1992, 1993). Russett&