New Books in Critical Theory Madison Schramm, "Why Democracies Fight Dictators" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Oct 3, 2025
In this engaging conversation, Madison Schramm, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, delves into her book discussing why democracies often clash with personalist dictators. She explores how cognitive biases and emotional responses incite democratic leaders to perceive these regimes as threats, leading to conflict. Schramm examines historical parallels, contemporary leaders like Putin and Kim, and the implications of democratic backsliding on foreign policy. Her insights shed light on the emotional and narrative-driven motivations behind military interventions.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Why Democracies Target Personalist Regimes
- Liberal democracies disproportionately initiate conflicts with personalist dictators due to cognitive and identity-driven processes.
- Attribution bias, vividness, and democratic social identity combine to raise threat perception and drive escalation.
Anger Links Personalization To Aggression
- Attribution bias and the vividness effect make individual autocratic leaders cognitively salient to democratic elites.
- That salience fuels anger, and anger increases risk acceptance and aggressive foreign policy choices.
World War II Shaped The Dictator Image
- World War II and postwar institutions helped codify the image of dictators as the enemy of liberal democracy.
- This historical shift made individual authoritarian leaders the focal targets of moral and policy rhetoric in the postwar era.
