Powerful democracies are surprisingly war-prone when confronting autocratic states. This article explains how democratic political systems, despite their peaceful tendencies with other democracies, often emerge victorious in conflicts against authoritarian regimes.

The explanation draws from microeconomic theory of the state. State rent-seeking—the pursuit of power for its own sake—creates imperialist bias toward expansionism. This tendency is weakest in democracies because societal control keeps such gains costly and inefficient.

In contrast to autocracies, where rent-seeking drives aggressive foreign policies, democracies demonstrate constrained resource commitment due to their political structure. They also tend to receive stronger public support for security measures.

Ironically, this makes democratic states formidable opponents against expansionist autocracies.