A constitutional constraint on kings transformed Sweden from warrior society to peaceful one.
Evidence
For centuries, the Swedes plundered other nations. People prayed for protection: “Deliver us, O Lord, from the fury of the Norsemen.” After a prolonged war with Russia that exhausted their resources, the Swedish populace rose up and forced a constitutional change, with kings prohibited from initiating military adventures (Moerk, 1995). This political act transformed a militaristic society into a peaceful one. Sweden is now a mediator for peace among warring nations. In keeping with Sweden’s pacific ethos, there is little violence in society. Cultural diversity and rapid transformative societal change lend support to the view that the answer to human aggression lies more in ideology than in biology. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 177
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- SEED: The claim that ‘the answer to human aggression lies more in ideology than in biology’ is a sharp essay thesis — institutions (a law barring kings from initiating war) literally rewired a nation’s character.
- XREF: Pairs well with Pinker’s civilizing-process thesis and with standard international-relations arguments about how institutions constrain state violence.