Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010
Dr. Michael Aleprete, Westminster College assistant professor of political science, presented a paper at the International Studies Association annual convention Feb. 16 in New Orleans.
Aleprete's presentation, "Bandwagoning, Hegemonic Pull and Communitarian Impulses: Explaining Minor Power Joining in Inter-State Wars, 1816-2000," investigates the joining choices made by minor powers.
Most war joining since 1816 has been done by these minor states. This implies that a number of joiners enter wars despite having little prospect of significantly impacting the outcome, a behavior known as bandwagoning. Minor powers are thought to join already powerful coalitions to obtain benefits from being on the winning side.
Aleprete's paper presented alternative explanations for minor power joining: the hegemonic pull thesis suggests that minor powers bandwagon to curry favor with particular major power joiners, and the communitarian thesis examines the tendency of minor powers to join groups of states that are culturally or politically similar to themselves.
Aleprete, who has been with Westminster since 2007, earned an undergraduate degree from Duquesne University and master's and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Contact Aleprete at (724) 946-7254 or e-mail alepreme@westminster.edu for additional information.
