Editing Democratization (section)

==== War and peace ====
{{main|Territorial peace theory}}
[[File:War Office Second World War Official Collection B11634.jpg|thumb|Two British Marine Commandos take protection behind debris during the capture of Walcheren Island during World War II. The link between war and democratization has been a focus of some theories.]]
Wars may contribute to the [[state-building]] that precedes a transition to democracy, but war is mainly a serious obstacle to democratization. While adherents of the [[democratic peace theory]] believe that democracy causes peace, the [[territorial peace theory]] makes the opposite claim that peace causes democracy. In fact, war and territorial threats to a country are likely to increase [[authoritarianism]] and lead to autocracy. 
This is supported by historical evidence showing that in almost all cases, peace has come before democracy. A number of scholars have argued that there is little support for the hypothesis that democracy causes peace, but strong evidence for the opposite hypothesis that peace leads to democracy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gibler |first1=Douglas M. |last2=Owsiak |first2=Andrew |title=Democracy and the Settlement of International Borders, 1919–2001 |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |volume=62 |issue=9 |pages=1847–1875 |date=2017 |doi=10.1177/0022002717708599|s2cid=158036471 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gat |first1=Azar |title=The Causes of War and the Spread of Peace: Will War Rebound? |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ray |first1=James Lee |title=Does Democracy Cause Peace? |journal=[[Annual Review of Political Science]] |date=1998 |volume=1 |pages=27–46 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.1.1.27}}</ref>

[[Christian Welzel|Christian Welzel's]] [[Freedom Rising|human empowerment theory]] posits that existential security leads to emancipative cultural values and support for a democratic political organization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welzel |first1=Christian |title=Freedom Rising: Human Empowerment and the Quest for Emancipation |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> This is in agreement with theories based on [[evolutionary psychology]]. The so-called [[Theory of Regal and Kungic Societal Structures|regality theory]] finds that people develop a psychological preference for a strong leader and an [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] form of government in situations of war or perceived collective danger. On the other hand, people will support [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]] values and a preference for democracy in situations of peace and safety. The consequence of this is that a society will develop in the direction of [[autocracy]] and an authoritarian government when people perceive collective danger, while the development in the democratic direction requires collective safety.<ref name="Fog2017">{{cite book |last1=Fog |first1=Agner |date=2017 |title=Warlike and Peaceful Societies: The Interaction of Genes and Culture |publisher=Open Book Publishers |doi=10.11647/OBP.0128 |isbn=978-1-78374-403-9 |doi-access=free }}</ref>