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Summary:

"This book explains who the four US military services truly are and why they make and execute policy as they do. The book focuses on American civil-military relationships, explaining why the services imperfectly satisfy their civilian bosses and why the four services think and act so differently from one another. Ultimately, the book offers three independent but mutually reinforcing contributions to the fields of security studies and American civil-military relations. First, it builds on one of the major theoretical approaches to civil-military relations--agency theory--and identifies key conditions under which agency theory best explains military service behavior. Author Jeffrey W. Donnithorne provides a "principled agent" model that finds four unique condition sets that explain civil-military dynamics with new clarity. Second, the book exposes the importance of service culture in civil-military relations and offers a rich yet concise portrait of each of the four US military services: the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.Third, the book offers two important case studies of civil-military policymaking. These two cases demonstrate the principled agent framework in action, while amply revealing the four services as distinctly different political actors. Finally, the book offers both conclusions and implications for today's security environment, suggesting likely pathways where the services will diverge in their approach to current defense issues. With theoretical novelty, empirical depth, and engaging military history, the book aims to reach academics, practitioners, and general readers alike"-- [Provided by publisher]

Table of Contents:

• Principled agent theory
• Thinking like a sailor, the service culture of the United States Navy
• The few and the proud, the service culture of the United States Marine Corps
• Washington's own, the service culture of the United States Army
• Fighting for air, the service culture of the United States Air Force
• Getting there fast, the story of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force
• Getting to yes, passing the Goldwater-Nichols act of 1986.

Author/Creator:

Donnithorne, Jeffrey W. , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Four guardians: a principled agent view of American civil-military relations [by Donnithorne, J.W.]

Subjects:

United States Air Force

United States Army

United States Marine Corps

United States Navy

United States Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force

Civil-military relations — United States

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on: Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed April 16, 2018).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Call Numbers:

JK330 .D66 2018eb

ISBNs:

9781421425436 (electronic bk.)
1421425432 (electronic bk.)
9781421425429 [Invalid]
1421425424 [Invalid]
1421425432 (electronic bk.) [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

1031374257

Other Control Numbers:

EBC5108396 (source: MiAaPQ)
[Unknown Type]: ybp15271493