In this discussion, you will discuss issues related to civilian control of the military forces of the United States. To compl

https://crsreports.congress.gov

Updated June 11, 2020

Congress, Civilian Control of the Military, and Nonpartisanship

The possible use of federal armed forces as part of the U.S. executive branch’s response to incidents of violence during racial justice protests has raised questions about how the military is controlled by domestic political institutions and the U.S. military’s relationship with American society. Article I of the U.S. Constitution grants specific powers to Congress, making the legislative branch a key actor in governing, overseeing, and funding the U.S. military.

What Is Civilian Control of the Military? How to advance the nation’s security while at the same time ensuring that instruments of force do not undermine the practice of American democracy has been a central question since the founding of the United States, if not before.

The designers of the Constitution were deeply skeptical of a standing army, as such a military instrument could also overthrow the government it professed to serve, much like Oliver Cromwell demonstrated in 1653 when he used his army to disband the English Parliament. Consternation regarding British deployment of its military to the American colonies without the consent of local governing officials was among the key grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence. In the context of a new, experimental, and democratic Republic, the Founding Fathers believed that subordination of the military to the authority of civil masters was critically important to prevent the emergence of a new form of tyranny or dictatorship.

The principle of civilian control of the military places ultimate authority over U.S. armed services in the hands of civilian leadership, with civilian responsibility and control of the military balanced between the executive and legislative branches of the government. In some ways, the relationship between the military and the civil society it serves is a paradox: the military, by its very nature, has coercive power that could threaten civil society. Yet without a sufficiently strong and capable military, civil society becomes vulnerable to attack, and the former might not be able to defend the latter.

Civilian Control of the Military: Congressional and

Executive Branch Responsibilities

The Founding Fathers designed a system of civilian control of the military in a manner that conformed with the government’s overall architecture of checks and balances. An elected President was designated the Commander-in- Chief of the nation’s armed forces. This had the dual advantage of ensuring that an elected civilian leader presided over the nation’s army while at the same time enhancing unity of command over the military. The President was also granted the ability to commission military officers, authority to appoint Secretaries to preside over military services, and the responsibility to regularly report to Congress on the state of the union.

Federalist Papers 46 and 59 show that the Founding Fathers were also concerned about unitary executive control of the military. The desire to ensure that the military reflected, and was subordinate to, the will of the people therefore led to considerable congressional powers on matters concerning the armed services. These include the power to lay and collect taxes for the common defense, the sole power to declare war, the ability to raise and support armies, and the authority to establish rules and regulations for the army, navy, and militias when in service of the United States. To further strengthen civilian control of the military, a provision prohibited the appropriation of money for the army for a period longer than two years.

In the post-World War II era, Congress has exercised this constitutional authority in a number of ways, including (but not limited to) the following:

 Annual strategy and posture hearings overseeing the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) plans and programs.

 Annually authorizing the scope and priorities for the military’s budget and appropriating monies accordingly.

 Establishing new service branches of the U.S. military, such as the U.S. Space Force in 2019 (P.L. 116-92).

 Establishing new components of the U.S. military, such as U.S. Special Operations Command (P.L. 99-661).

 Setting key DOD strategy production requirements, such as the National Defense Strategy (P.L. 114-328).

 Consenting upon the nominations of senior leaders to DOD civilian and military positions.

 Cancellation of weapons systems, as with the MBT-70 Supertank in 1971.

 Establishing authorities for DOD’s noncombat cooperative activities with other nations’ military and security establishments (Title 22 U.S. Code; Title 10 U.S. Code, Chapter 16).

 Organizing the military chain of command, for example through the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act (P.L. 99-433).

 Requiring reporting on key issues and areas of interest to Congress, such as the semi-annual Report on Stability and Progress in Afghanistan (P.L. 110-181).

 Setting criteria for military promotions, for example by requiring military staff in a “joint” position before becoming eligible for a General or Flag Officer position in the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act (P.L. 99-433).

 Setting personnel policies, including repealing DOD’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward gay service members in the military (P.L. 111-321).

Congress, Civilian Control of the Military, and Nonpartisanship

https://crsreports.congress.gov

 Granting specific authorities for the legal conduct of military operations, such as the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (P.L. 107-40).

Civil-Military Relations As noted above, civilian control of the military refers to the principle that the military is ultimately subordinate to civilian authority. This formal governance structure for the military has always been necessary, but not sufficient, to ensuring civilian control of the military. Underpinning these structures are a set of norms (i.e., a set of expected behaviors) of mutual respect for the roles, responsibilities, and interactions of both civilian and military leaders, which are often referred to as “civil-military relations.”

President George Washington played a vital role in establishing the norms and culture that formed the foundation for American relationships between the military and the civilian leadership it served. For example, in putting down the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania, President Washington ensured that his subordinates upheld and respected civilian rule of law while doing so. This behavior, in conjunction with Washington’s earlier decision as a military officer to eschew his associates’ urging to install himself as a military dictator of the weak American confederacy, created the foundation for the norm in America that control of the military would be in the hands of democratically elected civilian leaders.

Over time, a key norm that emerged to help bolster civilian control of the military is that of a nonpartisan U.S. military. Although scholars debate the norm’s particulars and its implementation, the widely held view is that a military that is nonpartisan is able to serve the sovereign American people regardless of party and to defend all Americans regardless of their affiliation. This, in turn, protects and enables the process of American democracy to occur without fear of military intervention to shape or mandate a particular political outcome.

Its nonpartisan culture is arguably one reason that the U.S. military is one of the most trusted institutions in the eyes of the American public. A 2019 Gallup survey (see below) found that 73% of the American public has either a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in the U.S. military as an institution (it should be noted that recent events may affect future surveys). This trust is also arguably one reason the U.S. military receives the lion’s share of U.S. national security resources (for an illustrative CRS estimate on how national security resources are allocated between DOD and non-DOD U.S. government agencies, see Figure 1).

In recent years, a number of scholars have expressed concern that this norm of nonpartisanship is eroding, citing increased partisan identification among military officers, the behavior of troops on social media, and the increased involvement of retirement generals in presidential campaign as evidence. Some observers also express concern that military services are taking on inherently political tasks within DOD. According to this view, civilian leaders are losing their ability to control the processes that manage DOD planning, budgeting, and deployments, all of which are ultimately political calculations. According to this view, too much military influence in these processes can compromise its reputation as a nonpartisan actor.

For example, the June 1, 2020, photographing of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley in Lafayette Square immediately after protestors had been forcibly removed from the area was seen by some (including, on June 11, Milley himself) as the use of the military to endorse a partisan domestic political act. Others contend that removing protestors at that time was necessary to promote public safety.

Figure 1. Discretionary Budget Authority by Security

and Nonsecurity Categories, FY2020

(in billions of dollars)

Source: CRS analysis of Office of Management and Budget, Public

Budget Database, Budget Authority XLSX; and OMB Final

Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year

2012, p. 3. Analysis by Brendan W. McGarry, Analyst in U.S. Defense

Budget, and Christopher T. Mann, Analyst in Defense Policy and

Trade.

Notes: The U.S. government does not categorize spending by

national security. This figure is a CRS estimate based on the

“security” category in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25).

In the wake of June 1, several retired senior military leaders, including former Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis, voiced their concern about the use of National Guard personnel in a manner that infringes on American’s constitutional right to free assembly.

Issues for Congress Given recent trends and events, Congress could explore

 whether recent events have eroded the norm of a nonpartisan U.S. military;

 whether actions by members of Congress or the executive branch that inject military leaders into partisan disagreements affect military advice, effectiveness, or unit cohesion; and

 to what extent legislative tools might be used to reassert congressional civil control, if necessary.

Further Reading Risa Brooks and Jim Golby, “Congress Controls the Military Too,” The Hill, June 8, 2020.

Loren DeJonge Schulman, Alice Hunt Friend, and Mara Karlin, Two Cheers for Esper’s Plan to Reassert Civilian Control of the Pentagon, CNAS, September 9, 2019.

The Gallup Organization, Confidence in American Institutions Polling, July 2019.

Kathleen J. McInnis, Specialist in International Security

IF11566

Congress, Civilian Control of the Military, and Nonpartisanship

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11566 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

1. 1. 2020-06-11T10:30:37-0400

AmericAn Government And Politics

Adapted from the book 21st Century American Government and Politics (v. 1.0) by “Anonymous”

Adapted and Edited by: James J. Tuite

2020 Edition Part I

Chapters 1 and 3-12 are adapted from the book 21st Century American Government and Politics (v. 1.0).

This book is licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/ 3.0/) license. See the license for more details, but that basically means you can share this book as long as you credit the author (but see below), don't make money from it, and do make it available to everyone else under the same terms.

This book was accessible as of December 29, 2012, and it was downloaded then by Andy Schmitz (http://lardbucket.org) in an effort to preserve the availability of this book.

Normally, the author and publisher would be credited here. However, the publisher has asked for the customary Creative Commons attribution to the original publisher, authors, title, and book URI to be removed. Additionally, per the publisher's request, their name has been removed in some passages. More information is available on this project's attribution page (http://2012books.lardbucket.org/attribution.html?utm_source=header).

For more information on the source of the original version of this book, or why it is available for free, please see the project's home page (http://2012books.lardbucket.org/). You can browse or download additional books there.

About this version: This version was adapted for use during the first semester of a two semester course in U.S. Government. Where observed, the editor of this version, James J. Tuite, Central Virginia Community College, Lynchburg, VA, corrected errors and added Chapter 2, Equality and Liberty which was adapted from a number of sources attributed within that chapter. Section 12.5, the 2016 Presidential Election was also added. A companion test bank and supplementary teaching materials were also created to accompany this version. The second semester materials are scheduled to be completed during the Spring 2017 semester and both volumes, along with the accompanying teaching materials will be available for the Fall 2017 semester. The book remains licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/ 3.0/) license.

About the Editor of this Version

ii

James J Tuite

Prior to coming to Central Virginia Community College, Mr. Tuite was the National Security Policy Advisor to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Mr. Tuite also served as the majority staff director of the U.S. Senate National Security Working Group.

Mr. Tuite also served the government in the U.S. Army as a medical specialist in Vietnam; as a senior special agent with the United States Secret Service (retired); as an expert consultant to the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Center for Technology and Engineering; as a research consultant to companies engaged in contracts with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force; and, as the Special Assistant for National Security and Dual-Use Export Technology to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

He was portrayed as the principal character in the 1998 Showtime movie, Thanks of a Grateful Nation, which detailed events surrounding an investigation he directed for the U.S. Senate. He attended American, Georgetown and Catholic Universities.

Table of Contents

About the Authors………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 Chapter 1: Communication in the Information Age ……………………………………………. 14

Communication, Information, and the Media ……………………………………………………………………………… 16

News ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26

Opinion and Commentary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36

New Media …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 45

Recommended Reading ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 56

Recommended Viewing………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 57

Chapter 3: The Constitution and the Structure of Government Power………………. 72 The First American Political System……………………………………………………………………………………………. 73 Creating and Ratifying the Constitution ……………………………………………………………………………………… 79 Constitutional Principles and Provisions …………………………………………………………………………………….. 95 The Constitution in the Information Age …………………………………………………………………………………….106 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 113 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 114

Chapter 4: Federalism ………………………………………………………………………………………… 115 Federalism as a Structure for Power………………………………………………………………………………………….. 118 The Meanings of Federalism ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 125 Why Federalism Works (More or Less) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 139 Federalism in the Information Age ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 148 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 156 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 157

iii

Chapter 2: Liberty and Equality…………………………………………………………………………….. 59 Foundations of American Government………………………………………………………………………………………… 60 The Colonial Experience ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 66

Chapter 6: Civil Rights ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 197 Civil War Amendments and African Americans …………………………………………………………………………. 199 Other Minorities, Women, Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Disabled ………………………………………………… 214 Civil Rights in the Information Age …………………………………………………………………………………………… 231 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 237 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 238

Chapter 7: Political Culture and Socialization ………………………………………………….. 240 Political Culture ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 242 Political Socialization ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 261 Political Culture and Socialization in the Information Age ………………………………………………………… 276 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 283 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 285

Chapter 8: Public Opinion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 287 What Is Public Opinion? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 290 Democracy and Public Opinion …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 297 Polling the Public ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 301 Public Opinion in the Information Age………………………………………………………………………………………. 317 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 324 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 326

Chapter 9: Participation, Voting, and Social Movements …………………………………. 327 What Is Political Participation? …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 330 Why People Participate …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 345 Who Participates and Who Does Not …………………………………………………………………………………………. 351 Social Movements …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 358 Participation, Voting, and Social Movements in the Information Age ………………………………………… 366 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 374 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 376

iv

Chapter 5: Civil Liberties ……………………………………………………………………………………. 158 The Bill of Rights ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 160 Religion, Speech, the Press, Assembly, and Petition …………………………………………………………………… 167 Arms, Search and Seizure, Accusation, Punishment, Property, and Privacy ………………………………..177 Civil Liberties in the Information Age ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 191 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 195 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 196

Chapter 11: Political Parties ………………………………………………………………………………. 419 History of American Political Parties…………………………………………………………………………………………. 421 Political Parties Today………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 435 Party Organization……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 439 Party in Government ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 443 Party Identification…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 448 Minor Parties ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 452 Political Parties in the Information Age …………………………………………………………………………………….. 464 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 473 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 475

Chapter 12: Campaigns and Elections ……………………………………………………………….. 477 Election Campaigns…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 479 Media and Election Campaigns………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 491 Presidential Elections ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 501

2016 Presidential Election………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 512 Barack Obama Elected in 2008 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 506

Congressional and Other Elections ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 523 Campaigns and Elections in the Information Age ………………………………………………………………………. 533 Recommended Reading …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 543 Recommended Viewing…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 545

v

Chapter 10: Interest Groups…………………………………………………………………………………. 377 The Interest Group System ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 378 Lobbying: The Art of Influence……………………………………………………….

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