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Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gelpi, C; Feaver, PD
Published in: American Political Science Review
January 1, 2002

Other research has shown (1) that civilians and the military differ in their views about when and how to use military force; (2) that the opinions of veterans track more closely with military officers than with civilians who never served in the military; and (3) that U.S. civil-military relations shaped Cold War policy debates. We assess whether this opinion gap "matters" for the actual conduct of American foreign policy. We examine the impact of the presence of veterans in the U.S. political elite on the propensity to initiate and escalate militarized interstate disputes between 1816 and 1992. As the percentage of veterans serving in the executive branch and the legislature increases, the probability that the United States will initiate militarized disputes declines. Once a dispute has been initiated, however, the higher the proportion of veterans, the greater the level of force the United States will use in the dispute.

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Published In

American Political Science Review

DOI

EISSN

1537-5943

ISSN

0003-0554

Publication Date

January 1, 2002

Volume

96

Issue

4

Start / End Page

779 / 793

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Gelpi, C., & Feaver, P. D. (2002). Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force. American Political Science Review, 96(4), 779–793. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305540200045X
Gelpi, C., and P. D. Feaver. “Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force.” American Political Science Review 96, no. 4 (January 1, 2002): 779–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305540200045X.
Gelpi C, Feaver PD. Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force. American Political Science Review. 2002 Jan 1;96(4):779–93.
Gelpi, C., and P. D. Feaver. “Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force.” American Political Science Review, vol. 96, no. 4, Jan. 2002, pp. 779–93. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S000305540200045X.
Gelpi C, Feaver PD. Speak softly and carry a big stick? Veterans in the political elite and the American use of force. American Political Science Review. 2002 Jan 1;96(4):779–793.
Journal cover image

Published In

American Political Science Review

DOI

EISSN

1537-5943

ISSN

0003-0554

Publication Date

January 1, 2002

Volume

96

Issue

4

Start / End Page

779 / 793

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science