Data and Programs for Replication

spiro.exe is a self-extracting zip file (48k). It contains a program written in Q-Basic that measures the probability of wars (or their absence) between liberal democracies, based on a hypergeometric distribution. Democracies were coded by Michael Doyle, and the data on war comes from the COW data-set (ICPSR 9044). The program tests for any period length between 1816 and 1980.

These results were reported in:

  • David E. Spiro, "The Insignificance of the Liberal Peace," International Security 19, 2(Fall 1994): 50-86.
  • David E. Spiro, "The Liberal Peace: And Yet It Squirms," International Security 19, 4(Spring 1995).
  • They were reprinted in Michael E. Brown, Sean M. Lynn-Jones, and Steven E. Miller, Debating the Democratic Peace (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996).

    First download the file by clicking below and then saving it. On an IBM compatible pc, simply run the file "spiro" and it will unpack itself. On other platforms use an unzip program.

    Download spiro.exe by clicking here!