The Authoritarian Peace: Latin American in the Twentieth Century.

• In Event: Authoritarian Politics

Abstract

During the twentieth century Latin America was notable for
the paucity of wars among the region's sovereign states.
This widespread outbreak of intersate pacificism stands
in marked contrast with the region's ninenteenth century
experience, as well as with the high twentieth century
levels of intra-state armed conflict encountered througout
the region. I construct a formal model in which high levels
of internal conflict actually deter governments from engaging
in wars in order to avoid the change in the internal balance
of power, in the form of extended voting rights and governemnt
benefits, that would result from even a victorious war.

Author

• John Benedict Londregan, Princeton University