Democracy, Autocracy, and International Cooperation

One of the most consistent findings in the study of world politics is the positive relationship between democratic regimes and international cooperation. Yet events in recent years suggest a more complicated picture. Several democracies have withered in their support for international organizations, while autocracies simultaneously have stepped up their commitments to cooperation. This project will use recent developments as a backdrop for launching a new research agenda on the relationship between regime type and international cooperation. Guided by the over-arching question of why, how, and under what conditions regime type affects international cooperation, this project will conduct the most systematic and comprehensive analysis so far of this relationship. Theoretically, it will break new ground by developing a novel framework for identifying how regime type may have varying and conditional effects on international cooperation. Empirically, it will be more comprehensive than any previous research effort, examining this relationship over a longer time period and across a broader range of international cooperation, based on an extensive new data collection. Methodologically, it will leverage an ambitious multi-method design, combining large-N statistical analysis, experimental analysis, and in-depth case analysis in a complementary fashion and with a comparative orientation. In addition, the project will be policy relevant by generating insights on the resilience (or not) of international cooperation in an age of democratic decline.