Conscription and Democracy: The Mythology of Civil— Military Relations

Abstract

The assumption of a mutually conditional relationship between democracy and conscription is a persistent aspect of the debate on civil—military relations. This article discusses the relationship between conscription and democracy, in a general sense and with reference to the German case. Following a review of conventional motives for conscription, it proceeds to discuss the relationship between conscription and democracy in terms of empirical coincidence and as a means of subjective military control. Continued assertion of an innate democracy—conscription nexus is found to be at variance with the evidence while retaining some influence over the ongoing debate on conscription. The conflation of democratic citizenship with conscription is linked to tensions with individual liberty and equality before the law.

I Want You! The Determinants of Military Conscription

“…At the same time, other scholars see no relationship between democracy and conscription. Pfaffenzeller (2010, 491) argues that there is “no strong evidence of a functional linkage between conscription and democracy,” but this is based on an analysis of only sixty-three countries, and only of conscription in 2006, not a country-year analysis over 200 years, as this study provides. In an analysis of eighty-eight countries, 1985 to 1996, Mulligan and Shleifer (2005, 85) find that “conscription does not seem to be influenced by democracy.” In a larger sample of countries, and over a longer period of time, it is possible that the majority opinion of the democracy school (that democracies are less likely to conscript) will hold, so we test the following hypothesis. Hypothesis 1: The more democratic a country is, the less likely it is to impose the draft. …”

“…The foundation for understanding modern conscription is the levée en masse that France imposed on its citizens in 1793, and its imposition can be traced directly to “the mounting threats of a five-front war and rebellion at home” (Wolloch 1986, 103). This reading of the imposition of conscription, as a reaction to threats both external and internal, is one that is echoed widely in the literature (Cohen 1985; Posen 1995, 138; Konstantinidis and Lutmar 2011), even if some see this as an excuse for rulers to impose conscription (Pfaffenzeller 2010, 482). Indeed, French success led other countries to impose conscription out of fear, with perhaps the most important example being Prussia (van Creveld 1999).…”

“…After Prussia’s success in the Franco-Prussian War, “one country after another did away with its antiquated military system and introduced universal conscription of the male population” (van Creveld 1999, 252). In Latin America, Brazil adopted limited conscription after its painful war with Paraguay in the 1860s (Beattie 2001, 6), and in post–WWII Germany, Roman Herzog, a former president of the Federal Republic, argued, “The military service obligation is such a profound restriction of a young citizen’s individual liberty that a democratic state under the rule of law may only demand it if the state’s external security really requires it” (Pfaffenzeller 2010, 482-83).…”

“…While a security threat argument emphasizes the self-defense logic of conscription, there are many who argue that the draft is tied more strongly to an aggressive, expansionist foreign policy. Pfaffenzeller (2010, 488), for example, argues that conscription marks the “dawn of total war.” Merom (2003, 67) argues that nationalism empowered rulers to justify conscription, which was essential to be internationally competitive “in the age of mass conscription.” Wolloch (1986, 101) and Stephens and Baker (2006, 73) argue that conscription was key in empowering Napoleon to compete. It did so because “the levée en masse soon revolutionized the character of international competition by facilitating significant reduction of war costs, drastic expansion of army strength, and dramatic improvement of fighting capability” (Hui 2005, 128).…”

Whiteness in the glare of war: Soldiers, migrants and citizenship

“…With the abolition of mass conscription, however, many would argue that the reciprocal link between military service and democratic citizenship is weakened (Pfaffenzeller 2010). Being a soldier in a volunteer force reverts to being a particular kind of job, undoubtedly a form of uniformed public service but one that is more likely to be immersed in powerful nationalist rhetoric when the country is at war, ranging from patriotism, heroism and sacrifice to shame, dishonour and disgrace.…”