
On War and Democracy
Christopher Kutz(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 19. January 2016
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-691-16784-8 (ISBN)
Description
On War and Democracy provides a richly nuanced examination of the moral justifications democracies often invoke to wage war. In this compelling and provocative book, Christopher Kutz argues that democratic principles can be both fertile and toxic ground for the project of limiting war's violence. Only by learning to view war as limited by our democratic values--rather than as a tool for promoting them--can we hope to arrest the slide toward the borderless, seemingly endless democratic "holy wars" and campaigns of remote killings we are witnessing today, and to stop permanently the use of torture and secret law. Kutz shows how our democratic values, understood incautiously and incorrectly, can actually undermine the goal of limiting war. He helps us better understand why we are tempted to believe that collective violence in the name of politics can be legitimate when individual violence is not. In doing so, he offers a bold new account of democratic agency that acknowledges the need for national defense and the promotion of liberty abroad while limiting the temptations of military intervention.
Kutz demonstrates why we must address concerns about the means of waging war--including remote war and surveillance--and why we must create institutions to safeguard some nondemocratic values, such as dignity and martial honor, from the threat of democratic politics. On War and Democracy reveals why understanding democracy in terms of political agency, not institutional process, is crucial to limiting when and how democracies use violence.
Kutz demonstrates why we must address concerns about the means of waging war--including remote war and surveillance--and why we must create institutions to safeguard some nondemocratic values, such as dignity and martial honor, from the threat of democratic politics. On War and Democracy reveals why understanding democracy in terms of political agency, not institutional process, is crucial to limiting when and how democracies use violence.
Reviews / Votes
"On War and Democracy is well written, well argued, and highly readable. Its most compelling points link a type of regime with how a regime wages war, a link that calls to mind the ethics of drones, torture, and other contemporary war tactics."--ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-16784-8 (9780691167848)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Christopher Kutz
On War and Democracy
E-Book
11/2019
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€26.99
Available for download
Person
Christopher Kutz is the C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Kadish Center for Morality, Law, and Public Affairs at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Complicity: Ethics and Law for a Collective Age.
Content
Permissions ix Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction: War, Politics, Democracy 1 2 Democratic Security 18 3 Citizens and Soldiers: The Difference Uniforms Make 37 4 A Modest Case for Symmetry: Are Soldiers Morally Equal? 63 5 Leaders and the Gambles of War: Against Political Luck 83 6 War, Democracy, and Publicity: The Persistence of Secret Law 104 7 Must a Democracy Be Ruthless? Torture, Necessity, and Existential Politics 125 8 Humanitarian Intervention and the New Democratic Holy Wars 159 9 Democratic States in Victory: Vae Victis? 179 10 Drones, Democracy, and the Future of War 195 11 Democracy and the Death of Norms 223 12 Looking Backward: Democratic Transitions and the Choice of Justice 246 Notes 275 Index 321