Conflicting indicators of "crisis" in American civil-military relations

Armed Forces and Society

Volumn 24, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 375-388

  Avant, Deborah ^a  

^a GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0032220513     PISSN: 0095327X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0095327x9802400303     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. In the most severe argument, Charles Dunlap, Jr., suggests that American civil-military relations may be headed down a slippery slope toward a military coup. See Charles Dunlap, Jr., "The Origins of the Military Coup of 2012," Parameters 22, 4 (Winter, 1992/93): 2-22.
2. Richard Kohn, "Out of Control: The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations," The National Interest 35 (Spring, 1994): 3-17; Edward Luttwak, "Washington's Biggest Scandal," Commentary 97, 5 (May, 1994): 29-33; Russell Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control from McClellan to Powell," special issue of the Journal of Military History, 57, 5 (October, 1993): 27-58. See also, Dunlap "The Origins of the Military Coup of 2012."
3. Richard Kohn, "Out of Control: The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations," The National Interest 35 (Spring, 1994): 3-17; Edward Luttwak, "Washington's Biggest Scandal," Commentary 97, 5 (May, 1994): 29-33; Russell Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control from McClellan to Powell," special issue of the Journal of Military History, 57, 5 (October, 1993): 27-58. See also, Dunlap "The Origins of the Military Coup of 2012."
4. Richard Kohn, "Out of Control: The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations," The National Interest 35 (Spring, 1994): 3-17; Edward Luttwak, "Washington's Biggest Scandal," Commentary 97, 5 (May, 1994): 29-33; Russell Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control from McClellan to Powell," special issue of the Journal of Military History, 57, 5 (October, 1993): 27-58. See also, Dunlap "The Origins of the Military Coup of 2012."
5. Richard Kohn, "Out of Control: The Crisis in Civil-Military Relations," The National Interest 35 (Spring, 1994): 3-17; Edward Luttwak, "Washington's Biggest Scandal," Commentary 97, 5 (May, 1994): 29-33; Russell Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control from McClellan to Powell," special issue of the Journal of Military History, 57, 5 (October, 1993): 27-58. See also, Dunlap "The Origins of the Military Coup of 2012."
6. Colin Powell, "Why Generals Get Nervous," New York Times, 8 October 1992.
7. Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control," 29.
8. Kohn, "Out of Control," 9-13.
9. Paul Stockton, "Recent Developments in U.S. Civil-Military Relations" (Working paper prepared for "A Crisis in Civilian Control? Contending Theories of American Civil-Military Relations," Boston: Olin Institute, Harvard University, 11-12 June 1996).
10. New York Times, 26 January 1993.
11. S. E. Finer, The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics (New York: Praeger, 1962).
12. Kenneth Kemp and Charles Hudlin, "Civil Supremacy Over the Military: Its Nature and Its Limits," Armed Forces & Society 19, 1 (Fall, 1992): 7-26.
13. Huntington spends much time contrasting objective civilian control to its reverse, subjective civilian control, where the politicization of the military risks undermining the security of the state. See Samuel Huntington, The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations (New York: Random House, 1964).
14. John Lehman, "An Exchange on Civil-Military Relations," The National Interest 36 (Summer, 1994): 24.
15. Lehman, "An Exchange."
16. Stanley Arthur, "The American Military: Some Thoughts on Who We Are and What We Are," Civil-Military Relations and the Not-Quite Wars of the Present and Future (Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 1996).
17. Thomas Ricks, "Separation Anxiety: New Marines Illustrate Growing Gap between Military and Society," Wall Street Journal, 27 July 1995, A1: 1.
18. Douglas Johnson and Steven Metz, "Civil-Military Relations in the United States: the State of the Debate," The Washington Quarterly 18, 1 (1994): 211.
19. Kohn, "Out of Control," 3, 7.
20. Don Snider, "U.S. Civil-Military Relations and Operations Other than War," Civil-Military Relations and the Not Quite Wars of the Present and Future (Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 1996). Snider's argument has obvious implications for the first standard as well. The reason I placed it here has to do with its emphasis on the fact that one is best served by a commonality (albeit in expertise rather than just in societal background) between civilians and the military.
21. Morris Janowitz, The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait (New York: Free Press, 1971), 420.
22. See Harrison White, "Agency As Control," in Principals and Agents: The Structure of Business, ed. John Pratt and Richard Zeckhauser (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1985).
23. Quoted in David Morrison, "Lots of Brass on Display at the Pentagon," National Journal (13 February 1993): 400.
24. New York Times, 26 January 1993.
25. Weigley, "The American Military and the Principle of Civilian Control," 27.
26. Kohn, "Out of Control," 3.
27. Peter Feaver, "Civilian Control of the Military: American Civil-Military Relations in Theory and Practice" (Paper presented at the 1996 annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 18-20), 5.
28. Rebecca Schiff, "Civil-Military Relations Reconsidered: A Theory of Concordance," Armed Forces & Society 22, 1 (Fall, 1995): 7-24.
29. This model is entirely in disagreement with Huntington's. It has also been criticized for its interpretation of Israeli civil-military relations. See Eva Etzioni-Halevy, "Civil-Military Relations and Democracy: The Case of the Military-Political Elites' Connection in Israel," Armed Forces & Society 22, 3 (Spring, 1996): 401-418.
30. Some, including Christopher Gacek, argue that this is because the limited use of force violates basic principles of war. Limited war scenarios have fallen by the wayside because they simply cannot be sustained in the face of the logic of force. His analysis, however, is probably premature. Limited force has achieved successful outcomes from time to time, for whatever reason. Furthermore, what seemed to be a trend away from the limited use of force in the Reagan/Bush years has reversed itself under the Clinton administration. See Christopher Gacek, The Logic of Force: The Dilemma of Limited War in American Foreign Policy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994).
31. A. J. Bacevich, "The Clinton Doctrine," The Weekly Standard 3, 3 (February, 1996): 16-21.
32. Deborah Avant, "Are the Reluctant Warriors Out of Control: Why the U.S. Military is Averse to Responding to Post-Cold War Low-Level Threats," Security Studies, 6, 2 (Winter 1996/97): 51-90.
33. See Bengt Abrahamsson, Military Professionalization and Political Power (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1972); George Kourvetaris and Betty Dobratz, Social Origins and Political Orientations in a World Perspective (Denver, CO: University of Denver Press, 1973); Al Stephan, The Military in Politics: Changing Patterns in Brazil (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971).
34. See Bengt Abrahamsson, Military Professionalization and Political Power (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1972); George Kourvetaris and Betty Dobratz, Social Origins and Political Orientations in a World Perspective (Denver, CO: University of Denver Press, 1973); Al Stephan, The Military in Politics: Changing Patterns in Brazil (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971).
35. See Bengt Abrahamsson, Military Professionalization and Political Power (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1972); George Kourvetaris and Betty Dobratz, Social Origins and Political Orientations in a World Perspective (Denver, CO: University of Denver Press, 1973); Al Stephan, The Military in Politics: Changing Patterns in Brazil (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971).
36. See, for example, Charles Cohran and Eloise Malone, "A Comparison of Naval Academy Plebes and College Freshman Over 20 Years: 1974-1994" (Paper presented at the Biennial International Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, 20-22 October 1995).
37. Eliot Cohen, Citizens and Soldiers (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985).
38. See Harrison White, "Agency As Control."
39. Don M. Snider and Miranda Carlton-Carew, U. S. Civil-Military Relations: In Crisis Or Transition? (Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1995).
40. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
41. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
42. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
43. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
44. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
45. See, for instance. Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz, "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review 62 (1972); Michael Altfeld and Gary Miller, "Sources of Bureaucratic Influence: Expertise and Agenda Control," Journal of Conflict Resolution 28, 4 (1984); Thomas Hammond and Gary Miller, "A Social Choice Perspective on Expertise and Authority in Bureaucracy," American Journal of Political Science 29, 1 (1985); Gary Miller and Terry Moe, "The Positive Theory of Hierarchies," in Political Science: The Study of Politics, ed. Herbert Weisberg (New York: Agathon, 1986); William Niskanen, Bureaucracy and Representative Government (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1971); Stephen A. Ross, "The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem," American Economic Review 62, 2 (1973).
46. Harold Lasswell worried that American civilians would not be able to control the large military. Samuel Huntington worried that the military would not remain separate enough from society, and its liberal bent, to be able to meet the challenges of the Cold War. See Harold Lasswell, "The Garrison State," The American Journal of Sociology 46:4 (January, 1941); Huntington, The Soldier and the State.
47. Harold Lasswell worried that American civilians would not be able to control the large military. Samuel Huntington worried that the military would not remain separate enough from society, and its liberal bent, to be able to meet the challenges of the Cold War. See Harold Lasswell, "The Garrison State," The American Journal of Sociology 46:4 (January, 1941); Huntington, The Soldier and the State.
48. See Cohen, Citizens and Soldiers.