Overview
Description
This course is an overview of the major themes and issues in the military and politics, including the military as an institution, military law, the military’s relationship with the state it is in, and military-civilian relations. The emphasis is on the military as an institution in political systems, how it is governed internally and by civilians, who serves or has to serve, the military-industrial complex and the outsourcing and privatization of military functions, among other topics.
Units
Lecture3
Catalog Details
Offering
Offered: Every Fall - Odd Years
Terms
fall
Attributes
Standard
Learning Outcomes
- examine core issues of civil-military relations, particularly pertaining to why the military obeys civilians, and the conditions under which it does not.
- define what a military coup is, and categorize the conditions under which it is likely to occur.
- identify military law and differentiate its key features from civilian law
- enumerate and examine the reasons why politicians and others sometimes politicize the military
- describe key features of being a service member.
- analyze how and why the military as an institution emphasizes group loyalty and sacrifice, not individuality and individual freedoms.
- explicate the privatization of military functions and the consequences of the state ceding defense to private contractors, assessing specific cases to illustrate issues.
- analyze source materials to see how civil-military issues emerge, including situations involving servicemembers and non-combatants.