Hegemony and Democracy

Hegemony and Democracy is constructed around the question of whether hegemony is sustainable, especially when the hegemon is a democratic state. The book draws on earlier publications over Bruce Russett’s long career and features new chapters that show the continuing relevance of his scholarship. In examining hegemony during and after the Cold War, it addresses:

• The importance of domestic politics in the formulation of foreign policy;
• The benefits and costs of seeking security through military power at the expense of expanding networks of shared national and transnational institutions;
• The incentives of other states to bandwagon with a strong but unthreatening hegemon and 'free-ride' on benefits it may provide rather than to balance against a powerful hegemon.
• The degree to which hegemony and democracy undermine or support each other.

By applying theories of collective action and foreign policy, Russett explores the development of American hegemony and the prospects for a democratic hegemon to retain its influence during the coming decades. This collection is an essential volume for students and scholars of International Relations, American Politics, and US Foreign Policy.

This book brings together a collection of leading IR scholar Bruce Russett’s work to explore American hegemony from during the Cold War to the 21^st Century, and to ask whether this is sustainable for a democratic state. It features new and unpublished material, as well as classic essays making this a must-have collection.

Bruce Russett is Dean Acheson Professor of Political Science and Professor in International and Area Studies, Macmillan Center, Yale University, and has edited the Journal of Conflict Resolution since 1972. He has been president of the Peace Science Society (International) (1977-79) and the International Studies Association (1983-84). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2002 he received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University.

In the 2008 TRIP Survey of International Relations Faculty in Ten Countries, Bruce Russett was rated 12^th on the list of international relations scholars whose work has had the greatest influence on the field of IR in the past 20 years and the 5^th most influential IR scholar whose work has had the greatest influence on US foreign policy in the past 20 years.

According to the Essential Science Indicators analysis on armed conflict research over the past decade, the #1 slot belongs to Dr. Bruce Russett, with 15 papers cited a total of 537 times, and three of these papers appear on the list of the 20 most-cited papers in the topic over the past decade. In Essential Science Indicators, Dr. Russett’s record includes 23 papers cited a total of 653 times over the past 10 years in the field of Social Sciences. He has authored 25 books and 230 articles throughout his career.