What kinds of states make the best allies? This dissertation studies the determinants of defensive alliance reliability during war. I argue that strong democratic states constitute reliable allies. For these states, the miltiary costs of honoring an alliance agreement are sufficiently low, while potential electoral penalities are potentially large. For these reasons, strong democracies defend their allies during war more frequently. Support for this theory is found from a number of sources. First, I present the first individual-level experimental data supporting audience costs in the realm of military alliances. Second, I present observational data showing that strong democratic countries consistently defend their alliance partners during war. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2012. / September 28, 2012. / Alliances, Audience Costs, Economy, Experimental, Public Opinion / Includes bibliographical references. / Mark Souva, Professor Directing Thesis; Michael Creswell, University Representative; Jennifer Jerit, Committee Member; David Siegel, Committee Member; William H. Moore, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183272 |
| Contributors | Lee, John Nathaniel (authoraut), Souva, Mark (professor directing thesis), Creswell, Michael (university representative), Jerit, Jennifer (committee member), Siegel, David (committee member), Moore, William H. (committee member), Department of Political Science (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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