Full Description
Conventional wisdom holds that the American military is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican, and extremely political. Our Army paints a more complex picture, demonstrating that while army officers are likely to be more conservative, rank-and-file soldiers hold political views that mirror those of the American public as a whole, and army personnel are less partisan and politically engaged than most civilians. Assumptions about political attitudes in the U.S. Army are based largely on studies focusing on the senior ranks, yet these senior officers comprise only about 6 percent of America's fighting force. Jason Dempsey provides the first random-sample survey that also covers the social and political attitudes held by enlisted men and women in the army. Uniting these findings with those from another unique survey he conducted among cadets at the United States Military Academy on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, Dempsey offers the most detailed look yet at how service members of all ranks approach politics.
He shows that many West Point cadets view political conservatism as part of being an officer, raising important questions about how the army indoctrinates officers politically. But Dempsey reveals that the rank-and-file army is not nearly as homogeneous as we think--or as politically active--and that political attitudes across the ranks are undergoing a substantial shift. Our Army adds needed nuance to our understanding of a profession that seems increasingly distant from the average American.
Contents
List of Illustrations xi List of Tables xiii Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Citizenship and Service: A 2004 Survey of Army Personnel 5 The 2004 West Point Preelection Survey 7 Chapter 2. Soldiers and Politics 10 Historical Overview 10 From the Revolution to Civil War 10 Post-Civil War 13 Post-World War II 15 Post-Vietnam 20 After the Cold War 23 Implications for Civil-Military Relations 27 Chapter 3. An Overview of Army Demographics 34 The Army's Rank Structure 34 Gender, Race, and Ethnicity 35 Education and Income 38 Family and Region 40 The Virtual Army and Virtual Officer Corps 42 Chapter 4. Social and Political Attitudes 45 Reasons for Joining 45 Views of the Army 47 Use of Military Force 48 Defense and Foreign Policy Spending 52 The Economy and Domestic Spending 54 Social Issues 60 Attitudes toward Issues of Gender and Race 63 Trust and Efficacy in Government 65 Conclusion 68 Chapter 5. Conservatism 70 Self-Identification 70 Opting In and Opting Out? 82 Social and Economic Dimensions of Conservatism 85 Conclusion 92 Chapter 6. Party Affiliation in the Army 95 Deriving Party Affiliation 95 Generic Party Identification 98 Identification with the Republican and Democratic Parties 101 Determinants of Republican Identification 105 The Meaning of Party Affiliation in the Army 109 Soldier and Officer Differences 111 Military and Civilian Differences 111 Republican-Democratic Differences 115 Party Affiliation and Foreign Policy 119 Conclusion 124 Chapter 7. Political Participation 127 Voting 129 Displaying Support 131 Donating Money 131 Determinants of Political Activity 132 Mobility and Ease of Voting 137 Efficacy and Political Participation 139 Partisanship and Political Participation 140 Army Culture 144 Self-Selection Effect 146 Conclusion 149 Chapter 8. The Army's Next Generation 152 Existing Research on Cadets and Socialization 153 Self-Selection 154 The Limits of Socialization 155 Shaping Political Attitudes? 157 The 2004 Cadet Preelection Survey 160 Cadet Demographics 161 The Composition and Role of West Point Instructors 164 Ideology and Party Affiliation 165 Indoctrination or Self-Selection? 166 Demographics 167 Institutional Pressure? 169 Perceptions and Expectations 172 Conclusion 174 Chapter 9. Army Attitudes in 2004 and Beyond 177 Conventional Wisdom and the Reality of Army Attitudes 178 A Generational Shift 184 Chapter 10. The Way Forward 187 The Future of American Civil-Military Relations 187 Leveraging the Institution for Political Gain 191 Fulfilling Professional Obligations 191 Translating Service into Privilege 192 Lessons from the Army's Birthday 194 Update: The 2008 Election 197 Afterword 201 Thoughts on Sparta ... 201 ... and Babylon 203 Appendix A: Citizenship and Service: A 2004 Survey of Army Personnel 207 Survey Method 207 Survey Response 210 Survey Weighting 214 Survey Instrument: C&S Survey 215 Appendix B: The 2004 Cadet Preelection Survey 223 Survey Instrument: The 2004 Cadet Preelection Survey 224 Appendix C: Comparison Surveys 240 Appendix D: The Virtual Army and Virtual Officer Corps 243 Appendix E: Rules Governing Political Participation of Members of the Army 245 Appendix F: Adjutant General's Absentee Voting Message 247 Bibiliography 249 Index 259
