Shadows of Power : A quantitative study about the relationship between state power and the International Criminal Court

While the phenomenon of power is greatly debated in the field of international relations, much still remains unknown about its statistical relationship with preliminary examinations in African countries. This quantitative study seeks to examine the relationship between state power, in terms of GDP and military expenditure, and its effect on preliminary examinations at the International Criminal Court. The study asks how does the level of power influence the likelihood for preliminary examination to occur? The hypothesis in this study posits that as a country's level of power increases, the likelihood of preliminary examination by the ICC decreases. The research of this study is limited to a sample of the larger population, looking exclusively on African states. A unique dataset has been constructed to examine the role of state power in influencing the likelihood of preliminary examinations in this analysis. Based on the findings from the logistic regression analysis, it is estimated that countries with higher levels of state power decrease the risk of facing preliminary examinations, yet, the results are not statistically significant, except the democracy index variable. Therefore, incorporating additional observations as regime type and national legal systems could further develop the findings, suggesting that future research should focus on those implications.