The Shock of War: Costly Conflicts and Party System Stability.

International conflict and its subsequent costs significantly affect domestic politics in the form of public opinion, executive approval, and even the policy positions of elected officials. However most of this research focuses solely on the US and little of it ties international conflicts to meaning political behaviors such as voting. To address these voids we examine the extent to which the cost of conflict, in terms of casualties and the number of conflicts, affects the larger political system. We argue that increases in the overall costs of conflict (i.e., more casualties) leads a decline in electoral volatility within the political system. However, this decrease in volatility is contextually dependent on the number of conflicts fought in a given election cycle and the issue of the conflict. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]