Bandwagoning for Survival: Political Leaders and International Alignments

42 Pages Posted: 29 Nov 2018

Date Written: November 06, 2018

Abstract

External threats and state capacity have been at the center of the scholarly study of alignments in world politics. This article describes an alternative path to alignment between two states that is rooted in the strategic interaction between individual political leaders. We present a theory of bandwagoning for survival in which the leader in the dominant state provides side payments to help the incumbent in the secondary state survive in office in return for compliance. The theory specifies the mechanism through which leader preferences produce alignment, and alignment, in turn, generates international order. We test these ideas by checking for the presence of our hypothesized mechanism in three historical cases, and by providing transparent access to detailed historic evidence to substantiate our claims.

Keywords: Bandwagoning, Selectorate Theory, Leaders in International Relations

Suggested Citation

Spektor, Matias and Fasolin, Guilherme, Bandwagoning for Survival: Political Leaders and International Alignments (November 06, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3265876

Matias Spektor (Contact Author)

FGV/Brazil ( email )

Avenida Paulista, 14701
São Paulo, Brazil

Guilherme Fasolin

FGV/Brazil ( email )

Avenida Paulista, 14701
São Paulo
Brazil

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