Military Socialization and the State of Civil-Military Norms

• In Event: Ideational Factors in Civil-Military Relations

Abstract

A substantial tradition in the civil-military relations literature takes as given the salience of professional norms in the military, among them a commitment to democratic values, aversion to partisan politics, and relatively inflexible organizational ethics. However, few empirical efforts have kept pace with measuring these normative claims amidst ongoing concerns of military politicization, ethical standards, and civilian intervention in organizational affairs long considered the territory of military leaders. In this study, we use an original survey battery to measure the strength and salience of civil-military norms amongst junior prospective officers at the military academy; in the midst of their socialization to civil-military values, we can consider this the upper bound of where norms might be strongest, if indeed they are significant at all. In addition, we use an embedded list experiment to measure true preferences to controversial questions in civil-military affairs, such as the competing loyalties to subordinates, leaders, and democratic governance.

Authors

• Risa A. Brooks, Marquette University

• Heidi Urben, Georgetown University

• Michael Robinson, United States Military Academy