You and Whose Army? How Civilian Leaders Leverage the Military’s Prestige to Shape Public Opinion

Kenwick, Michael R.; Maxey, Sarah

doi:10.1086/718355

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…We hope that our dataset is a worthwhile contribution to scholars attempting to understand military operations in peacetime and domestic military deployments. We additionally find support for recent work theorizing that civilian political officials use the military in ways that bolster their own political image and chances of electoral survival (Kenwick and Maxey, 2022). Our findings offer evidence from an unprecedented emergency situation about the ways that civilian control shapes military deployment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Securitization, as a political process, will unfold differently depending on electoral politics. Kenwick and Maxey (2022) find that democratically elected leaders use the military in ways that bolster their public approval and improve their chances of political survival. Elected leaders have incentives to avoid unpopular actions and take actions that curry favor with the electorate.…”

Section: Electoral Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How governance shaped military responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Dietrich

Eck²,

Ruffa³

2023

Eur. Pol. Sci. Rev.

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Most countries deployed their military in some capacity to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We present original data on early pandemic-related deployments, identifying seven types of deployment: logistic operations, enforcement, international involvement, border protection, information provision, intelligence operations, and domestic protection. We find that military deployments are shaped by capacity and electoral considerations, even after accounting for cross-country differences in perceptions of the military. Countries with elected leaders were significantly more likely to deploy the military for border protection. Incumbents facing reelection were especially sensitive to electoral concerns, becoming significantly less likely to deploy the military for domestic enforcement when facing an imminent election.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Electoral Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How governance shaped military responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Dietrich

Eck²,

Ruffa³

2023

Eur. Pol. Sci. Rev.

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“…This suggests that the views of military leaders serve as an information cue for the US public. Similarly, Kenwick and Maxey (2022) suggest that reference to advisor with military experience increases US citizens' approval to president's decision to deploy military force. If these findings are applicable to the Japanese context, we expect that opposition from those with military experience would decline the support for the hypothetical dispatch of the JSDF.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the Criticism of Constitutional Experts Shape Public Attitude toward a Government’s Security Policy? - Reconsidering the Image of “Influential Constitutional Legal Scholars” in Japan

Iseki

Shinomoto

2023

Preprint

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Constitutional legal scholars are regarded as influential academic experts in the public debate on security policy in Japan. However, the majority of studies on expert cue fail to find evidence that messages from experts have a persuasive effect on public opinion. To empirically test the influence of constitutional scholars, this study conducted an online survey experiment on whether the criticism of constitutional scholars undermines Japanese public support for the hypothetical use of armed force. The results show that such criticism has no causal effect on public attitude even among respondents who are most liberal or have high confidence in constitutional scholars. On the contrary, adverse opinion from retired general officers declines the support for the dispatch among individuals who are conservative or have high confidence in the Japan Self-Defense Force. These findings imply that though the Japanese consciously sift through information from different sources, they reject it from constitutional scholars.

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“…These attitudes drive preferences toward bureaucratic decision-making. Voters tend to be more receptive to policy proposals from unelected technocrats or foreign policy advisors who have military experience (Kenwick and Maxey, 2022;Vittori et al, 2023).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Parties Can Benefit From Promoting Occupational Diversity in Legislatures: Experimental Evidence From Three Countries

Costa,

Pereira

2024

Preprint

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How do legislators' occupational backgrounds shape their ability to advance policy? We argue that politicians with professional experience are perceived as more credible in their areas of expertise and can more effectively persuade voters and peers. We examine this argument in a series of experiments in three Western democracies. We find that German legislators with professional experience in education are more effective at persuading voters in that policy area. The same pattern holds for United States’ legislators with experience in healthcare. The quality of the arguments does not substitute for professional background effects. These effects extend to elected officials: Swedish politicians are more likely to co-sponsor legislation proposed by peers with professional experience in that field. Parties that foster occupational diversity are better equipped to build support for their policy agendas. The study uncovers a new mechanism through which descriptive representation can influence policy outcomes, independent of legislators' preferences.

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You and Whose Army? How Civilian Leaders Leverage the Military’s Prestige to Shape Public Opinion

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 publications

How governance shaped military responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

How governance shaped military responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Does the Criticism of Constitutional Experts Shape Public Attitude toward a Government’s Security Policy? - Reconsidering the Image of “Influential Constitutional Legal Scholars” in Japan

Why Parties Can Benefit From Promoting Occupational Diversity in Legislatures: Experimental Evidence From Three Countries

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