Regarding the survey on promoting democracy, one interesting finding was the fairly straightforward view (point 1) that most Americans don't favor "promoting democracy with military force" -- of course not! Americans are so imbued with the democratic culture of bargaining, negotiating, and compromise, that reverting to the use of force for almost any purpose except clear self-defense is anathema.

This meshes with the view that going to war wasn't a good enough reason to do the Iraq war (point 2) -- but then who said that was the main reason? This is a skewed question!

A disturbing finding (point 3) was that although a very large majority feels that democracy is the best form of government, there is less confidence (only 50%) that it is best for all countries. This does seem to mesh with the finding (point 8) that Americans don't think the US democracy is perfect . . . . I wish the survey had asked "If you don't believe that democracy is the best form of government for any particular country, what form of government DO you feel is best for that country. . . and why?"

Also as part of point 3, note that although most feel democracy is the best form of government, "Americans are not convinced [only 26% agreed] that when there are more democracies the world is a safer place. . . . or whether democracies are less likely to go to war with each other [only 46% agreed] . . . . " Interestingly, and what makes this survey particularly useful in the democratic peace research program is that the survey actually identified the democratic peace (no war between democracies), rather than the usual "democracies don't fight."

Here is where the most disturbing finding is found (page 5 of the survey): "The view, popular among political scientists, that democracies are unlikely to go to war with each other does not have a wide following. A plurality (49%) said democracies are just as likely to go to war with each other as are other types of governments, compared to 46% who said democracies are less likely to go to war with each other than other types of governments. However, 55% of Republicans agreed that democracies are less likely to go to war."

A quick note on the last sentence: I ASSUME they meant that the 55% of Republicans agreed that democracies were less likely to GO TO WAR WITH EACH OTHER. . . . but the text says simply "less likely to go to war" which significantly would change the meaning of the question.

In one sense, it is remarkable that 46% actually DO believe the democratic peace proposition -- even though I suspect that the vast majority of all respondents are NOT familiar with any of the democratic peace literature or rationale -- rather, they might have heard just the proposition itself. How much higher would this percent be IF all the respondents were given a 10-minute primer on WHY democracies don't fight each other?

Anyway, despite the discouraging basic finding (Americans are skeptical about promoting democracy), there is a great mix of hope and despair here. The despair is that most Americans don't really understand democracy that well. The hope is that most think it is the best form of government. And finally, there is some despair that much work needs to be done to explain democracy and the democratic peace. . . . but for those of us who teach, that is precisely a matter of great hope!