Political Partisanship and the Professional Military Ethic: The Case of the Officer Corps' Affiliation with the Republican Party

Abstract

A recently published survey on civil-military relations revealed that a large majority of military officers claim an affiliation with the Republican Party. The finding suggests that officers have violated their professional ethic by abandoning the tradition of political neutrality. This paper first examines the reasons for the Republican bias, which include the conservatism of the GOP vis-a-vis the Democratic Party and institutional changes within the military. Second, it assesses the effect of the Republican bias on officer professionalism. I argue that the officer corps' voting preference does not constitute partisan activity and is not, by itself, harmful to professionalism and civil-military relations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 04, 2000
Accession Number
ADA432060

Entities

People

  • Lance A. Betros

Organizations

  • National War College

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  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems

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  • Cold War
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  • Foreign Relations
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  • Military Families
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
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Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Organizational Psychology.