Democratic leaders and war: simultaneously managing external conflicts and domestic politics

Despite strong empirical evidence for democratic peace theory, the historical record indicates that democracies have been involved in many wars. This article conducts a critical examination of how democratic politiesbecome entangled in international conflict. The examination focuses on how democraticleaders manage domesticpolitics and public opinion at each stage of the conflict (i.e. disputes, crises, wars and settlement). The study explores how democracies are drawn into conflict; when democracies provoke conflict; what claims democraticleaders make to justify conflict; when domesticaudiences support or oppose conflict; and the implications for democraticleaders after conflicts. It argues that democraticleaders pursue various strategies that are shaped by the stage of the conflict, the domesticinstitutional structure and the level of mobilised domesticopposition.