Chinese Perception of Democratic Peace

• In Event: Identity and Foreign Policy Behavior

Abstract

Democratic peace theory that democracies do not fight each other is a well-established theory in international relations. Interestingly, some existing studies found that Chinese citizens perceive their country as a democracy. Does the idea of their country being a democracy affect their decision on the use of force against democracies as opposed to non-democracies? Based on a survey experiment, this study tests whether and how Chinese public’s identity of their regime affects their foreign policy decisions. This study is theoretically important in that it examines mechanisms of democratic peace—ideological versus institutional—through which a country’s regime type affects ordinary citizens’ perception and attitudes toward democracies.

Authors

• Seok Joon Kim, Korea University

• Julia Macdonald, University of Denver