Abstract
Traditional conceptions of military professionalism tend to emphasize the need for service-members to be 'apolitical' or at least non-partisan. These professional norms, however, tend to assume that members of the military can 'just say no' to being political or partisan, and provide little guidance on how to avoid or resist political pressure. This lack of guidance becomes particularly problematic in a context of high and increasing partisan polarization, as more issues become partisan and thus theoretically out of bounds for military members to engage in. This paper explores precisely why partisan polarization creates significant problems for normative civil-military relations theory, and attempts to offer an alternative concept of a professional ethic that provides more guidance for military members under conditions of polarization.
Panel: Military Professionalism in Crisis: The Present and Future of Democratic Civil-Military Relations