Shouldering the Soldiering

Democracy, Conscription, and Military Casualties

Bibliographic Data

ID6284109
AuthorsJoseph Paul Vasquez (0000-0001-6558-5722, University of Notre Dame, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume49
Issue6
Pages849-873
Publication date2005-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022002705281151
OpenAlexW2134554618
LanguageEN
Citations received45
References cited37

As the American death toll in Iraq surpassed 1,900, some international research scholars may have been perplexed. Only a few years ago, foreign policy makers in Western democracies, including the United States, were described as being extremely sensitive to the risk of military combat casualties. Among the factors that influence the number of casualties that a democracy will experience in conflict, one variable that should not be ignored is its military manpower system. The author contends that democracies with conscript armies experience fewer combat casualties than democracies with volunteer or professional forces because the societal actors most closely affected by conscript casualties are more likely to have the political power and access with which to constrain policy makers. Using several selection models, the author finds that democracy and conscription contribute to fewer casualties than democracy and volunteer militaries, with democracy alone being responsible for casualty numbers that lie somewhere in between

Death toll · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Foreign policy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Toll · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Demography · Gender, Security, and Conflict · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Public Administration

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