Military Service and Political Participation

Fize, Etienne; Louis-Sidois, Charles

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2905732

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Conscripted military service increases the degree of system engagement among bureaucrats in autocracies through the political socialization of recruits. 32 Fize and Louis-Sidois 2018;Ertola Navajas et al 2019;Erikson andStoker 2011. 33 Garcia 2015;Bachman et al 2000;Green, Davenport, and Hanson 2019.…”

Section: Conscription As a Tool For Indoctrinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Partial Effectiveness of Indoctrination in Autocracies

Juan¹,

Haaß²,

Pierskalla³

2021

World Pol.

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Dictators depend on a committed bureaucracy to implement their policy preferences. But how do they induce loyalty and effort within their civil service? The authors study indoctrination through forced military service as a cost-effective strategy for achieving this goal. Conscription allows the regime to expose recruits, including future civil servants, to intense “political training” in a controlled environment, which should improve system engagement. To test this hypothesis, the authors analyze archival data on over 370,000 cadres from the former German Democratic Republic. Exploiting the introduction of mandatory service in the gdr in 1962 for causal identification, they find a positive effect of conscription on bureaucrats’ system engagement. Additional analyses indicate that this effect likely did not result from deep norm internalization. Findings are more compatible with the idea that political training familiarized recruits with elite preferences, allowing them to behave strategically in accordance with the rules of the game.

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Section: Conscription As a Tool For Indoctrinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Partial Effectiveness of Indoctrination in Autocracies

Juan¹,

Haaß²,

Pierskalla³

2021

World Pol.

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“…Although veterans’ experiences adjusting to civilian life are diverse, existing research on the civic habits of veterans has painted a rosy picture of empowerment and engagement. The connection between military service and civic engagement is a logical one, well‐studied by scholars of political psychology and behavior (e.g., Fize & Louis‐Sidois, ; Stouffer, Suchman, DeVinney, Star, & Williams, ; Teigen, ). Members of the U.S. military volunteer for service partially out of a sense of civic duty, and their training reinforces notions of patriotism and citizenship (e.g., Klingler & Chatagnier, ; Lovell & Stiehm, ).…”

Section: Life After Military Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

The Political Consequences of Combat: Post‐Traumatic Stress and Political Alienation Among Vietnam Veterans

Usry

2019

Political Psychology

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On average, veterans are more civically and politically engaged than civilians. Previous research on the effects of military service, however, did not account for differences in veterans’ combat experiences. Using survey data from a representative sample of Vietnam veterans, this study presents evidence that veterans who were exposed to severe combat trauma and veterans who exhibited attitudes and fears associated with post‐traumatic stress had significantly lower levels of political efficacy and trust. The negative consequences of combat exposure and post‐traumatic stress are not mitigated when veterans have quality social support or when they seek professional counseling. These findings inform political psychology and hold implications for claims regarding the empowering influence of service in the U.S. military, increased political engagement, in particular. Among Vietnam veterans, exposure to severe combat trauma and post‐traumatic stress were both associated with reduced political efficacy and trust.

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“…All young French men were subject to so-called 'national service' (NS) at the age of 18, although they had the right to defer their service until the age of 22 with no specific justification (from 1970 onwards, women could also serve on a voluntary enrollment basis). Despite its obligatory nature, about a third of men born before 1975 avoided national service (Fize and Louis-Sidois 2018). The main reasons for exemption were medical conditions as assessed by military doctors and being the breadwinner of a family.…”

Section: French National Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Men born before 1 January 1979 were still obliged to serve for ten months. But the fact that the reform introduced (or extended) deferments linked to work (education), and that the military administration stopped using conscripts in August 2001, led to a gradual decrease in the proportion conscripted for cohorts born after 1974 (Fize and Louis-Sidois 2018).…”

Section: French National Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Internal Labor Migration Effects of Compulsory Peacetime Conscription

Chapela

2019

Defence and Peace Economics

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Conscription typically involves migration to the duty base location.According to DaVanzo's (1981) theory of repeat migration, this military-motivated migration might foster post-military migration. This paper investigates this issue empirically using individual-level data drawn from the 1992, 1998, and 2001 editions of the French survey of labor market entrants 'Génération.' The methods used to identify the causal effect of compulsory peacetime conscription on the post-military propensity to migrate exploit the abolition of conscription in France in October 1997 plus information on the timing of service among those who served. Conscription stimulated the post-military propensity to migrate for work of French male labor-market entrants with upper-class origins. Furthermore, there is evidence of a previously overlooked anticipatory effect of conscription: French males who were waiting to be called up for military service were approximately 25% less likely to migrate for work than comparable non-conscripts. Some implications of these findings and a consideration of their external validity are also provided.

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Military Service and Political Participation

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

The Partial Effectiveness of Indoctrination in Autocracies

The Partial Effectiveness of Indoctrination in Autocracies

The Political Consequences of Combat: Post‐Traumatic Stress and Political Alienation Among Vietnam Veterans

Evaluating the Internal Labor Migration Effects of Compulsory Peacetime Conscription

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