Reconceptualizing Military Intervention

• In Event: Exclusionary Politics: Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement

Abstract

Even with the increased scholarly attention paid to military intervention over the last thirty years, we lack a clear and shared conceptualization of the phenomenon. Existing definitions raise a host of questions that highlight significant differences that are important for both theory and practice. An increasing emphasis on quantitative scholarship has favored operational definitions designed for measurement rather than definitions seeking to mitigate this ambiguity in the literature. The “what is” took a backseat to “how much.” While these operationally-driven definitions were created to answer different research questions, the use of different definitions leads to variation in coding rules and the identification of a different universe of cases. This results in new scholars expanding the literature body rather than building upon it. As a first step to build these divides, this paper advances a conceptualization of military intervention that moves beyond a monolithic activity involving “boots on the ground” to incorporate a wider variety of activities and actors, which allows us to gain more precision in our analyses. The paper takes an additional step to disaggregate interventions by the types of activities based on levels of fungibility based on recent evidence demonstrates the utility of such an approach. I conclude by demonstrating the variation in outcomes between findings based on an existing definition and my updated conceptualization.

Author

• Meg K. Guliford, Drexel University