Two Paths to the Promotion of Democracy during U.S. Military Interventions

This article argues that presidents adopt “pro-liberalization policies” during military interventions for one of two reasons. Presidents' initial choices are most affected by the security conditions in the broad international environment and within the country in question. If presidents initially adopt “non-liberalization” policies, however, liberal internationalist attacks from Congress can often compel presidents to shift to pro-liberalization policies during the course of an intervention. Under these circumstances, presidents use the promotion of democracy to build domestic political consensus and “policy legitimacy” for U.S. interventions. This article tests the argument through an analysis of the universe of cases of the adoption of pro-liberalization and non-liberalization policies during twentieth-century U.S. military interventions.