International relations scholarship has long overlooked the role of parliament in shaping states' decision to go to war. In contrast, recent studies explored variations in parliamentary war powers across time and countries and their impact on troop deployments abroad. However, a systematic analysis of the determinants of support for military interventions in parliament is still missing. This article fills this literature gap by examining votes on 119 missions in twenty-one democracies between 1990 and 2019. Our findings suggest that parliamentary contestation is fundamentally driven by government ideology and the type of mission. Parliamentary support for military intervention is significantly higher when a left-wing government is in power. Moreover, "inclusive" missions with a robust humanitarian dimension draw a considerably lower level of contestation than "strategic" missions aimed at contrasting a security threat. Through such findings, the article contributes to the debates on the relevance of domestic political institutions in foreign policy and the party politics of military interventions.

Peace at Home, Conflict Abroad: Government Ideology, Mission Type, and Parliamentary Support for Military Interventions / V. Vignoli, F. Baraldi. - In: FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS. - ISSN 1743-8586. - 20:1(2024 Jan), pp. orad032.1-orad032.21. [10.1093/fpa/orad032]

Peace at Home, Conflict Abroad: Government Ideology, Mission Type, and Parliamentary Support for Military Interventions

V. Vignoli
Primo
;
F. Baraldi
Ultimo
2024

Abstract

International relations scholarship has long overlooked the role of parliament in shaping states' decision to go to war. In contrast, recent studies explored variations in parliamentary war powers across time and countries and their impact on troop deployments abroad. However, a systematic analysis of the determinants of support for military interventions in parliament is still missing. This article fills this literature gap by examining votes on 119 missions in twenty-one democracies between 1990 and 2019. Our findings suggest that parliamentary contestation is fundamentally driven by government ideology and the type of mission. Parliamentary support for military intervention is significantly higher when a left-wing government is in power. Moreover, "inclusive" missions with a robust humanitarian dimension draw a considerably lower level of contestation than "strategic" missions aimed at contrasting a security threat. Through such findings, the article contributes to the debates on the relevance of domestic political institutions in foreign policy and the party politics of military interventions.
La recherche en relations internationales omet depuis longtemps le role du parlement dans la declaration de guerre d'un etat. Par opposition, des etudes recentes se sont interessees aux variations temporelles et nationales des pouvoirs parlementaires en matiere de guerre et a leurs consequences sur le deploiement de troupes a l'etranger. Cependant, une analyse systematique des determinants du soutien aux interventions militaires au parlement n'a pas encore vu le jour. Cet article comble cette lacune de la litterature en examinant les votes relatifs a 119 missions dans 21 democraties entre 1990 et 2019. Nos conclusions suggerent que la contestation parlementaire se fonde essentiellement sur l'ideologie du gouvernement et le type de mission. Le soutien du parlement aux interventions militaires est bien plus important quand un gouvernement de gauche est au pouvoir. De plus, les missions << inclusives >> aux solides dimensions humanitaires attirent bien moins de contestation que les missions << strategiques >> visant a mettre en evidence une menace pour la securite. Grace a ces conclusions, l'article contribue aux debats quant a la pertinence des institutions politiques nationales en politique etrangere et la politique partisane des interventions militaires.
El conocimiento academico en materia de Relaciones Internacionales ha pasado por alto durante mucho tiempo el papel que juegan los parlamentos en la formacion de la decision de los Estados de ir a una guerra. Por el contrario, existen estudios recientes que estudiaron las variaciones existentes en los poderes de guerra parlamentarios a lo largo del tiempo y de los diversos paises, asi como su impacto sobre los despliegues de tropas en el extranjero. Sin embargo, aun se echa en falta un analisis sistematico de los determinantes del apoyo a las intervenciones militares en los parlamentos. Este articulo pretende llenar este vacio bibliografico a traves del estudio de las votaciones sobre 119 misiones llevadas a cabo en 21 democracias entre 1990 y 2019. Nuestras conclusiones sugieren que la impugnacion parlamentaria esta impulsada fundamentalmente por la ideologia del Gobierno y por el tipo de mision. El apoyo parlamentario a una intervencion militar es significativamente mayor cuando un Gobierno de izquierdas esta en el poder. Ademas, las misiones << inclusivas >>, que contienen una fuerte dimension humanitaria, atraen un nivel de impugnacion considerablemente menor que las misiones << estrategicas >> destinadas a contrarrestar una amenaza a la seguridad. Este articulo contribuye, gracias a estas conclusiones, a los debates en materia de la relevancia que tienen las instituciones politicas internas sobre la politica exterior y la politica partidista de las intervenciones militares.
military interventions; parliaments; parties;
Settore SPS/04 - Scienza Politica
gen-2024
6-dic-2023
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1021648
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