Overseen or overlooked? : legislators, armed forces, and democratic accountability / David P. Auerswald, Philippe Lagassé, and Stephen M. Saideman.
| Author/creator | Auerswald, David P. author. |
| Other author | Lagassé, Philippe, author. |
| Other author | Saideman, Stephen M., author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2025] |
| Description | xvii, 342 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction : are legislators watching the armed forces? -- Explaining legislative oversight over the armed forces -- Part I. Are Westminster parliaments ignorant and irrelevant? -- Westminster in the Atlantic : the United Kingdom and Canada -- Westminster in the Pacific : Australia, New Zealand, and Japan -- Part II. Consensus democracies -- Consensus democracies in the heart of Europe : Germany and Belgium -- Consensual democracies in the high north : Finland, Norway, and Sweden -- Part III. Congresses are overrated -- Not all congresses : Brazil, Chile, and South Korea -- Older presidential systems : France and the United States -- Conclusion : comparisons, implications, and lessons. |
| Abstract | "'War is too important to be left to the generals,' declared French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau over a century ago. But which civilians, exactly, play the most important roles in controlling the armed forces? When civilian control is studied, the focus is typically on those in the upper echelons of the executive branch: presidents, prime ministers, or defense secretaries. Yet, because civilians in the executive may be tempted to hide problems or use the military in controversial ways, researchers must extend Clemenceau's dictum: if war is too important to be left to the generals, civilian control is too important to leave with the executive. This book aims to understand the similarities and differences among the world's democracies regarding the role of legislatures in democratic civil-military relations. Drawing on over a dozen cases from across the globe, the authors examine how most legislatures face capability and motivational impediments to conducting truly robust oversight and propose realistic reforms to strengthen military accountability to elected officials and the public--the heart of the civil-military relationship"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Auerswald, David P. Overseen or overlooked? Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2025 9781503643802 |
| LCCN | 2024055978 |
| ISBN | 9781503643420 hardcover |
| ISBN | 1503643425 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |