Forged Through Fire - War, Peace, and the Democratic Bargain (John Ferejohn and Frances McCall Rosenbluth, 2017)

(316 pages)

This book received really strong reviews and sounded really interesting, but I just didn't find it that compelling.  Not sure why.

The premise:  the more that a state needs to expand the size of its army, the more likely that the state will expand the franchise and otherwise function like a democracy.

Which makes sense - hard enough to whip up suckers recruits to prosecute the state's wars, so offering that sort of carrot might help.

Plenty of counter-examples, however.