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Political leaders and military spending

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  • Jeff Carter

Abstract

How are patterns of military spending shaped by political leaders who have substantive policy preferences and need the support of their constituents to remain in power? A formal model developed to address this question indicates leaders’ preferences, political vulnerability, and motivation and their domestic audiences’ preferences jointly influence equilibrium military spending. I find variation in patterns of military spending consistent with the model's implications between 1946 and 2010. My analyses demonstrate that leaders’ desire to remain in power and individual-level characteristics and domestic audiences’ preferences jointly shape policy outcomes and, accordingly, suggest studying the interactions among them can provide insights into a range of topics central to peace science.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Carter, 2024. "Political leaders and military spending," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(2), pages 132-154, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:41:y:2024:i:2:p:132-154
    DOI: 10.1177/07388942231199164
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Zoe Greene & Amanda A Licht, 2024. "Donor political preferences and the allocation of aid: Patterns in recipient type," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(2), pages 155-176, March.
    3. Benjamin Jones & Eleonora Mattiacci & Timothy Nordstrom, 2024. "How leader's type shapes the effect of nuclear latency on dispute involvement," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(2), pages 177-193, March.
    4. Jeff Carter, 2024. "Introduction to special issue: New research on leaders and peace science," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(2), pages 99-109, March.

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