ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 presents the theory and methodology of the book: the phenomenon of the monarchic peace is posited as a subtype of a larger phenomenon of a similar political systems peace (SPSP), which also explains the related effect of the democratic peace. The SPSP concept is based on previous ideas of an overarching peace between not just democracies but also other kinds of similar systems, but it is reconceptualized and respecified to better fit autocracies and especially authoritarian monarchies. The mechanism is based on social identity theory (SIT): two institutionally similar regimes that recognize each other as similar political systems constitute an ingroup in which different conflict-solving mechanisms apply – they are therefore able to de-escalate conflicts before they turn into war. The approach relies on a multiple comparative case study approach.
