Legislatures and Defense: The Comparative Experience, Occasional Paper #8
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Authors
Giraldo, Jeanne Kinney
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2001-06
Date
Publisher
Language
en_US
Abstract
Democratically elected representatives in a country’s legislature have an
important role to play in formulating defense and military policy and monitoring its
implementation (i.e., oversight). Legislative participation in these areas is desirable for a
number of reasons. Democracy as “rule by the people” is enhanced by input from all
elected officials, not just those who comprise the executive branch. The needs of society
and the military are more likely to be balanced to the extent that representatives from all
segments of society are consulted in the policy process. Although consulting multiple
actors in the Congress on defense issues may be time-consuming, the end result is usually
better and longer lasting policy. The policy produced tends to be better as both the
executive and military actors involved are forced to defend their positions publicly.
Type
Article
Description
Occasional Paper # 8
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
The Center for Civil-Military Relations, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.