A Research Note: Is There a Civil–Military or Political Divide to How Americans Describe the U.S. Military?

Abstract

The U.S. military has been described as a calling, an occupation, a way to get ahead in life, a warrior class, and a family tradition. This study explores whether there are civil–military or partisan divides over these descriptions, cleavages that could be important to the broader debates on the civil–military divide and partisan polarization. This article presents the results of a survey fielded to a nationally representative sample of American adults to test whether respondents agreed with these narratives about the military. The results of this exploratory research indicate that most veterans agree with all five descriptions of the military, whereas less than half of nonveterans agree with any of them. A larger share of Republicans than Democrats agreed that the military is a calling, warrior class, or family affair. Altogether, the results suggest that Americans are divided over how to describe the military.

Keywords

civil–military relations political science professionalism partisanship polarization

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