Joint constraints on war are set by the less democratic member of a pair.

Evidence

After Dixon first proposed the weakest-link idea in 1993, scholars quickly arrived at a consensus that it was the appropriate measure of dyadic democracy. The argument is that the constraints on waging war between two countries are determined by the less democratic of the pair, i.e., the weakest link. The weakest-link measure uses the necessary and sufficient condition concept structure. Each link of the chain is necessary: the strength of one link cannot substitute for the weakness of another. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 121

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes weakest-link logic in O-ring production and in Olson-style collective action: the binding constraint governs the joint outcome.