Soldiers and the Nation-State

Abstract

Recognition of the need to consider the military an actor in political development has yet to produce adequate formats to describe its role in political development or reliable predictors of the role which particular armies will play. This article suggests a strategy to describe and measure the inputs of the military into political development and to work toward pre dictors of the inputs which different armies will make. When the analyst describes inputs in terms of the three distinct cate gories proposed, he can measure the significance of the military role for political development, as well as its content. In con cert, these categories—resources, aspects of activity, and rou tines—govern the collection and analysis of data to insure that: (1) all relevant military behaviors are handled and (2) the cen tral concern with political development is not subordinated to the study of the military as an end in itself. We propose that these categories can locate the inputs which have desired effects on political development. Different inquiries assist us to pre dict and control which inputs the military will make. From studies of organizations, we know that differences on charac teristics common to them tend to produce different capabilities and intentions. Similarly, differences on correctly selected characteristics of the military exert a significant and predict able influence on its role in political development. Completion of these inquiries locates for us which changes in military es tablishments will augment their contribution to political de velopment.