Military Culture and Institutional Trust

Evidence from Conscription Reforms in Europe

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7608345
AutoresVincenzo Bove (0000-0001-7398-9049, University of Warwick, autor de correspondencia), Riccardo Di Leo (0000-0003-4113-7954, University of Warwick), Marco Giani (0000-0001-9510-0538, King's College London)
Año2024
Volumen68
Número2
Páginas714-729
Fecha de publicación2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ajps.12745
OpenAlexW4306181664
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas55

Does military conscription reduce the distance between the ordinary citizen and the state? Decades after its abolition, numerous European policy makers from across the political spectrum advocate the reintroduction of conscription to foster civic virtues, despite a lack of empirical evidence in this respect. Leveraging quasi‐random variation in conscription reforms across 15 European countries, we find that cohorts of men drafted just before its abolition display significantly and substantially lower institutional trust than cohorts of men who were just exempted. At the same time, ending conscription had no effect on institutional trust among women from comparable cohorts. Results are neither driven by more favorable attitudes toward the government, nor by educational choices. Instead, this civil–military gap unfolds through the formation of a homogeneous community with uniform values. We argue that reintroducing a compulsory military service may not produce the effects anticipated by its advocates

Demographic economics · Economics · Empirical evidence · Government (linguistics · Homogeneous · Military personnel · Military service · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Service member · Sociology · State (computer science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Public Administration