The limits of military officers' duty to obey civilian orders : a neo-classical perspective / Robert E. Atknson, Jr.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Atkinson, Rob, 1957- author.

Contributor:

Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute, publisher.

Army War College (U.S.). Press, publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Huntington, Samuel P. Soldier and the state.

Huntington, Samuel P.

Civil supremacy over the military.

Civil-military relations.

Military ethics.

Obedience (Law)--Moral and ethical aspects.

Obedience (Law).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 59 pages)

Place of Publication:

Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, 2015.

System Details:

text file PDF

Summary:

"This monograph offers a neo-classically republican perspective on a perennial problem of civilian/military relations: limitations on military officers' obligation to obey civilian authorities. All commentators agree that military officers are generally obliged -- morally, professionally, and legally -- to obey civilian orders, even as they agree that this rule of obedience must admit of exceptions. Commentators tend to differ, however, on the basis and breadth of these exceptions. Following Samuel Huntington's classic analysis in The Soldier and the State, this monograph shows that disagreement about the breadth of the exceptions tends to assume that their bases -- moral, professional, and legal -- are incommensurable. It suggests, to the contrary, that all defensible exceptions to the rule of military obedience, like that rule itself, derive from a single neo-classical, Huntingtonian standard, binding on civilian authorities and military officers alike: the common good. This perspective promises significantly to reduce the range of disagreement over the limits of military obedience both in theory and in practice"--Publisher's web site.

Contents:

Introduction

Huntington's functional derivation of military duty and civilian authority

The limitations on military obedience implicit in Huntington's model

Two exceptions to military obedience that prove a more basic rule for both military officers and civilian authorities

Conclusion : not a simple, modern answer, but a unified neo-classical perspective.

Notes:

"July 2015."

Paper version available for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 47-59).

Online resource; title from PDF title page (SSI, viewed July 31, 2015).

Other Format:

P275

Print version: Atkinson, Robert E., Jr. Limits of military officers' duty to obey civilian orders

OCLC:

915160423