Domestic Politics and Rivalry Dynamics.

What impact does domestic politics have on international rivalry? While rivalry research has become an increasingly utilized framework through which to study international conflict, there is still much to be theorized when it comes to the role of domestic politics and structures. Major theories of rivalry often emphasize the role of domestic shocks to rival behaviors. However, much of the work does not, in any great depth, examine the differences between democracies and autocracies in rival relationships, save finding that jointly democratic dyads are less likely to be involved in a rivalry. Some of the most notorious and well-known rival relationships occur between one democracy and one autocracy. This paper examines how combinations domestic structures and processes interact to impact rivalry dynamics such as duration and severity. It builds upon major rivalry theories as well as the Selectorate Theory to generate a new expectations of rival behaviors. The new hypotheses are tested quantitatively across different institutional mixes of rivals and different stages of rivalry. I find that different domestic structural combinations have a substantial impact on rival behavior. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]