Is there a parliamentary peace? Parliamentary veto power and military interventions from Kosovo to Daesh
| DOI | 10.1177/1369148117745859 |
| Author | Wolfgang Wagner |
| Date | 01 February 2018 |
| Published date | 01 February 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117745859
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2018, Vol. 20(1) 121 –134
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148117745859
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Is there a parliamentary
peace? Parliamentary
veto power and military
interventions from Kosovo
to Daesh
Wolfgang Wagner
Abstract
This article studies the effect of parliamentary involvement on security policy. Building on
Democratic Peace Theory, it examines whether democracies with a parliamentary veto power
are indeed less likely to participate in military interventions, than democracies without such a
veto power, ceteris paribus. By studying patterns of participation across 25 to 35 countries in five
military missions, this paper finds modest evidence for such a parliamentary peace and suggests
that it depends on the character of the military mission in question. If a mission is framed as a
test case of alliance solidarity, as was the case with OEF and the Iraq War, domestic institutional
constraints can be trumped by alliance politics. If, however, countries enjoy more discretion in
deciding on the use of force, domestic constraints such as parliamentary war powers have a
tangible impact on government policy.
Keywords
democratic peace theory, Iraq War, Kosovo, military intervention, parliamentary peace, veto
power
Introduction
In August 2013, the British House of Commons provided a spectacular demonstration of
parliamentary war powers. After the use of chemical weapons in a suburb of Damascus
had been attributed to the Syrian government, the United Kingdom, France and the United
States showed resolve to respond with punitive military strikes against Bashar-al-Assad’s
regime. In line with an emerging convention (Mello, 2017; Strong, 2015), the Cameron
government asked parliament to approve a strong response, including possible military
action. To Cameron’s surprise, the House of Commons voted against the government
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
Corresponding author:
Wolfgang Wagner, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Email: w.m.wagner@vu.nl
745859BPI0010.1177/1369148117745859The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsWagner
research-article2018
Special Issue Article
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