ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers animated by the values of democracy to the ways in which those values can threaten to disrupt or subvert the project of finding ethical limits to war. First, I roughly sketch the central values and concerns of democracy, explaining why in my view democracy must be understood in terms of agency and mutual respect, not outcome or institution. Next, I offer a brief history of the ethical regulation of war, a history largely independent of democracy. Finally, I argue that, because democracy is now moral bedrock, it is important to explore whether and how we can justify and limit war in democratic terms.
