The Civil-Military Gap in the United States: Does It Exist, Why, and Does It Matter?

by Szayna, Thomas S.; McCarthy, Kevin F.; Sollinger, Jerry M.; Demaine, Linda J.; Marquis, Jefferson P.

• ISBN13: 9780833041579
• ISBN10: 0833041576
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-09-10
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

What is the potential for a divergence in views among civilian and military elites (sometimes referred to as the civil-military gap) to undermine military effectiveness? Although a variety of differences were found among the views of military and civilian survey respondents, these differences mostly disappeared when the authors focused on the attitudes that are pertinent to civilian control of the military and military effectiveness.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. iii
Figures	p. ix
Tables	p. xi
Summary	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Acronyms	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
The Context	p. 1
Objectives and Organization	p. 9
Toward a Framework for Thinking About Civil-Military Relations and Military Effectiveness	p. 13
Background	p. 13
Central Premises of Our Approach	p. 14
Context	p. 15
Civilian Control	p. 15
DoD Missions	p. 16
The Institutional Environment	p. 17
The Policymaking Process	p. 20
Characteristics of the Policymaking Process	p. 20
Key Steps in the Policymaking Process	p. 23
Key Problems Affecting the Policymaking Process	p. 24
Sources of Problems in the Policymaking Process	p. 26
Realms of Potential Civil-Military Disagreement	p. 30
Threat Assessment	p. 32
Defense Resources	p. 34
Force Design and Creation	p. 36
Force Maintenance	p. 39
Force Employment	p. 41
Summing Up	p. 43
The TISS Data	p. 45
Introduction	p. 45
Sample Design	p. 46
Population	p. 46
Sampling Frame	p. 48
Methodological Issues That Affect Analytic Conclusions	p. 50
Response Rates	p. 50
Representativeness of the Sample	p. 55
Comparability of the Survey Administration	p. 60
Our Use of the TISS Data	p. 63
How Do the Military and Civilians Differ?	p. 65
Introduction	p. 65
Analytical Model	p. 66
Components of Model	p. 70
Empirical Findings	p. 79
Socio-Demographic Profile	p. 79
Political Characteristics	p. 81
Knowledge of and Confidence in the Military	p. 86
View of Domestic Issues	p. 90
Views of International Affairs	p. 95
Discussion of Results	p. 101
Military and Civilian Perspectives	p. 105
Introduction	p. 105
Analytical Framework	p. 105
Civilian Control	p. 106
Military Effectiveness	p. 108
Threat Assessment	p. 108
Defense Resources	p. 110
Force Design and Creation	p. 111
Force Maintenance	p. 113
Force Employment	p. 114
Research Approach	p. 116
Results	p. 116
Threat Assessment	p. 116
Defense Resources	p. 123
Force Design and Creation	p. 129
Force Maintenance	p. 136
Force Employment	p. 141
Civilian Control	p. 145
Discussion of Results	p. 148
Conclusions and Observations on Future U.S. Civil-Military Relations	p. 151
Findings	p. 152
Caveats	p. 153
The Current Security Environment	p. 154
Political Environment	p. 155
Some Projections for the Future	p. 156
Future Directions for Research	p. 157
Final Observations	p. 158
Civilian and Military Elites	p. 161
Bibliography	p. 171
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