The Roots of Military Reform: The Development of the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 as It Applied to JCS Reorganization

Abstract

The purpose of this short paper is to briefly examine the roots of the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of I 986, in order to investigate the political forces at work behind the decision to elevate the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to a position preeminent among the other service chiefs using the bureaucratic politics model as the framework of inquiry. This is but one facet of a large, multifaceted Act that was in itself a part of an even more sweeping initiative to reform the whole of the defense department. Study of the bureaucratic process which led to the Act also leads to understanding of the changing nature of domestic politics, the interagency process, and the influence of the news media, special interest groups, and public opinion.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 05, 1997
Accession Number
ADA441695

Entities

People

  • Peter M. Leenhouts

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Budgets
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Earth-To-Space Weapons
  • Force Structure
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Military Budgets
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Organizational Realignment
  • Procurement
  • Public Opinion
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.