Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union
What are the causes of voluntary union in world politics? In other words, why would two states decide to freely surrender their individual autonomy and merge into one state? In a sweeping new study that emanates from the realist tradition, Joseph Parent claims to have examined all the relevant hist...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS)
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Politikon |
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| Online Access: | https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/20 |
| _version_ | 1797660249097764864 |
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| author | Joshua A. Schwartz |
| author_facet | Joshua A. Schwartz |
| author_sort | Joshua A. Schwartz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
What are the causes of voluntary union in world politics? In other words, why would two states decide to freely surrender their individual autonomy and merge into one state? In a sweeping new study that emanates from the realist tradition, Joseph Parent claims to have examined all the relevant historical cases and found that the unmistakable cause of voluntary union between two states is “optimally intense, indefinite, and symmetrically shared” external security threats. However, this paper will demonstrate that Parent has mistakenly omitted valid historical cases of voluntary unions from his sample and, in the process, biased his findings. By examining one of these wrongly excluded cases in-depth, that of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria, this paper will demonstrate that internal security threats and personal political incentives can also be causes of voluntary union.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:27:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8b6f7f7354b947d7846117b88a89d21b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2414-6633 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:27:06Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Politikon |
| spelling | doaj.art-8b6f7f7354b947d7846117b88a89d21b2023-10-13T18:22:48ZengInternational Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS)Politikon2414-66332019-03-014010.22151/politikon.40.4Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary UnionJoshua A. Schwartz What are the causes of voluntary union in world politics? In other words, why would two states decide to freely surrender their individual autonomy and merge into one state? In a sweeping new study that emanates from the realist tradition, Joseph Parent claims to have examined all the relevant historical cases and found that the unmistakable cause of voluntary union between two states is “optimally intense, indefinite, and symmetrically shared” external security threats. However, this paper will demonstrate that Parent has mistakenly omitted valid historical cases of voluntary unions from his sample and, in the process, biased his findings. By examining one of these wrongly excluded cases in-depth, that of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria, this paper will demonstrate that internal security threats and personal political incentives can also be causes of voluntary union. https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/20Arab nationalismNasserpolitical integrationrealismUnited Arab Republicvoluntary union |
| spellingShingle | Joshua A. Schwartz Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union Politikon Arab nationalism Nasser political integration realism United Arab Republic voluntary union |
| title | Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union |
| title_full | Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union |
| title_fullStr | Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union |
| title_full_unstemmed | Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union |
| title_short | Domestic Politics as an Explanation for Voluntary Union |
| title_sort | domestic politics as an explanation for voluntary union |
| topic | Arab nationalism Nasser political integration realism United Arab Republic voluntary union |
| url | https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/20 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joshuaaschwartz domesticpoliticsasanexplanationforvoluntaryunion |