The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations

by Samuel P. Huntington

Overview

In a classic work, Samuel P. Huntington challenges most of the old assumptions and ideas on the role of the military in society. Stressing the value of the military outlook for American national policy, Huntington has performed the distinctive task of developing a general theory of civil–military relations and subjecting it to rigorous historical analysis.

Part One presents the general theory of the "military profession," the "military mind," and civilian control. Huntington analyzes the rise of the military profession in western Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and compares the civil–military relations of Germany and Japan between 1870 and 1945.

Part Two describes the two environmental constants of American civil–military relations, our liberal values and our conservative constitution, and then analyzes the evolution of American civil–military relations from 1789 down to 1940, focusing upon the emergence of the American military profession and the impact upon it of intellectual and political currents.

Huntington describes the revolution in American civil–military relations which took place during World War II when the military emerged from their shell, assumed the leadership of the war, and adopted the attitudes of a liberal society. Part Three continues with an analysis of the problems of American civil–military relations in the era of World War II and the Korean War: the political roles of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the difference in civil–military relations between the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the role of Congress, and the organization and functioning of the Department of Defense. Huntington concludes that Americans should reassess their liberal values on the basis of a new understanding of the conservative realism of the professional military men.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674238015
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/15/1981
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	560
File size:	999 KB

About the Author

Samuel P. Huntington was Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University and the author of The Clash of Civilizations, The Soldier and the State, Political Order in Changing Societies, and American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, among other books.

Table of Contents

Cover Title Copyright Dedication Preface Contents Introduction: National Security and Civil-Military Relations Part I: Military Institutions and the State: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives Professionalism and the Military The Concept of Profession The Military Profession A New Social Type Mercenary and Aristocratic Officership Eighteenth-Century Aristocratic Institutions Preprofessional Ideals: The Military Craft and the Natural Genius The Origins of Professionalism The Emergence of Professional Institutions, 1800–1875 European Professionalism: General Upton’s Summary, 1875 Formulation of the Professional Ethic: The Autonomy and Subordination of War in Clausewitz’s Vom Kriege The Meaning of the Military Mind The Professional Military Ethic The Varieties of Civilian Control The Two Levels of Civil-Military Relations The Equilibrium of Objective Civilian Control The Patterns of Civil-Military Relations The German and Japanese Patterns Germany: The Tragedy of Professional Militarism Japan: The Continuity of Political Militarism Part II: Military Power in America: The Historical Experience, 1789–1940 The Prevalence of Liberalism in the United States The Liberal Approach to Military Affairs The Military Hero in Liberal Politics The Constitutional Absence of Objective Civilian Control The Framers and Civilian Control The Militia Clauses and Military Federalism: The Empire Within an Empire The Separation of Powers: Dual Control Over the National Forces The Commander in Chief Clause: The Political-Military Hierarchy Civilian Control and Constitutional Government The Three Strands of American Militarism The Failure of Federalism: Hamilton’s Abortive Professionalism Technicism Popularism Professionalism The Dominance of Business Pacifism: Industrialism Versus Militarism Years of Isolation: The Dark and the Bright The Creative Core: Sherman, Upton, Luce The Institutions of Professionalism The Making of the American Military Mind The Nature of Neo-Hamiltonianism Mahan and Wood: The Tragedy of the Military Publicist The Abortive Identification With Society, 1918–1925 Business-Reform Hostility and Military Professionalism Reform Liberalism: The Pragmatic Usages of Militarism Military Institutions The American Military Ethic, 1920–1941 Part III: The Crisis of American Civil-Military Relations, 1940–1955 Civil-Military Relations in Total War Military Authority and Influence in Grand Strategy The Military Adjustment to Wartime Power Civil-Military Relations in Economic Mobilization The Fruits of Harmony and Acrimony The Alternatives of Civil-Military Relations Postwar Perspectives on Civil-Military Relations Military Influence in American Society Political Roles: Substantive and Advocatory The Joint Chiefs in the Truman Administration The Korean War: The Generals, the Troops, and the Public The Joint Chiefs in the First Two Years of the Eisenhower Administration Conclusion The Separation of Powers Versus the Separation of Functions The Separation of Powers Versus Military Professionalism The Separation of Powers Versus Strategic Monism The Organization Problems of the Postwar Decade The Joint Chiefs of Staff: Legal Form and Political Reality The Comptroller: Superego of the Department of Defense The Role of the Secretary The Needs of the Office The Requisite for Security Changes in the Ideological Environment Conservatism and Security The Worth of the Military Ideal Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

The problem of civil–military relations is of critical importance in American affairs… Huntington establishes his basic propositions, formulates his theoretical framework, and analyzes historical and contemporary developments in the United States and abroad with skill and insight. The clarity and precision with which the book moves forward make it a delight to read.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

The book contains many insights about both America and its soldiers, and the thought behind many of its conclusions is hard and clean… It also disposes of a number of prejudices about the military that still clog the policy process… Here is a book to make one think.

American Political Science Review