Title The American warfare state : the domestic politics of military spending / Rebecca U. Thorpe

Published Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2014

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 245 pages) : illustrations, maps Series Chicago series on international and domestic institutions Chicago series on international and domestic institutions Contents Part I. Theoretical and historical overview : Introduction : Perpetuating the US military economy -- Presidential war powers in historical perspective -- Part II. World War II and the politics of defense spending : World War II military mobilization: origins of the rural defense pork barrel -- From shared sacrifice to local subsidy: dispersing defense benefits and externalizing war costs -- Local defense dependence and congressional weapons spending -- The distributive politics of defense contracting -- Part III. You and whose army?: Expansive presidential war powers -- Economic reliance and war -- Executive iIndependence in military affairs -- Conclusion : The warfare state Summary "In The American Warfare State, Rebecca U. Thorpe argues that there are profound relationships among the size and persistence of the American military complex, the growth in presidential power to launch military actions, and the decline of congressional willingness to check this power. The public costs of military mobilization and war, including the need for conscription and higher tax rates, served as political constraints on warfare for most of American history. But the vast defense industry that emerged from World War II also created new political interests that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate. Many rural and semirural areas became economically reliant on defense-sector jobs and capital, which gave the legislators representing them powerful incentives to press for ongoing defense spending regardless of national security circumstances or goals. At the same time, the costs of war are now borne overwhelmingly by a minority of soldiers who volunteer to fight, future generations of taxpayers, and foreign populations in whose lands wars often take place. Drawing on an impressive cache of data, Thorpe reveals how this new incentive structure has profoundly reshaped the balance of wartime powers between Congress and the president, resulting in a defense industry perennially poised for war and an executive branch that enjoys unprecedented discretion to take military action."--Publisher's Web site Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-229) and index Notes Print version record Subject Civil-military relations -- United States POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Political Advocacy. Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures Civil-military relations Militär Militärausgaben Militärpolitik Zivil-militärische Zusammenarbeit SUBJECT United States -- Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139808 Subject United States USA Form Electronic book LC no. 2013043064 ISBN 9780226124100 022612410X

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