A01=Michael P. Jasinski
Author_Michael P. Jasinski
Category=JPA
Category=JPQB
Category=JPS
Category=JW
democratic advantage
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
great power competition
international conflict
militarized rivalries
Military effectiveness
old War
social contract
World Wars
Product details
- ISBN 9781666934496
- Weight: 576g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 12 Feb 2025
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Serfs, Soldiers, Citizens: Military Effectiveness and the Social Contract evaluates the democratic advantage theory of military effectiveness and advances a counterargument that military effectiveness is more closely related to patterns of wealth redistribution and social mobility. While these phenomena are often seen as inherent to democracies, in practice autocratic states can display those qualities, too. Additionally, both democracies and autocracies tend to change policies toward improving military effectiveness following wars that went poorly for them, and that shift does not always entail a move towards greater democracy. There are many instances of a country, following a defeat, adopting better policies on social mobility and wealth redistribution and yet become more autocratic, then displaying superior effectiveness in conflict in comparison with an earlier war. Autocratic states have an advantage of more rapid preparation for a war they anticipate, while democracies are better at improving their policies toward greater military effectiveness once engaged in a war.
Dr. Michael P. Jasinski, associate professor of political science is the author of two other books, Social Trust, Anarchy, and International Conflict and Examining Genocides: Means, Motive, and Opportunity.
Joshua Grunske completed his B.A. in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and later earned an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Rhode Island.
