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Hello, non-US fellow here. Can someone point out to me, why this is not the case - I assume that is the reason this got slightly downvoted - or do people just h

Hello, non-US fellow here. Can someone point out to me, why this is not the case - I assume that is the reason this got slightly downvoted - or do people just have different opinions about the meaning of "control"?

chiph 10y ago
You may have heard of the Golden Rule, which usually means "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But there's a slightly different version which runs: "He who has the gold makes the rules". This is the case in funding the US Department of Defense. The overall budget is set by the Congress (and subdivided innumerable times afterwards by the DoD agencies and departments), so saying that civilians control the military in the US is both true in the operational sense (the military is part of the Executive Branch, and thus under the President, a civilian), but also in a financial sense. More info about the US budget process (which bears a strong resemblance to making sausage..) can be found here: http://budget.house.gov/budgetprocess/ http://budget.house.gov/budgetprocess/
Bahamut 10y ago
The military is under civilian control in the sense that oversight is held by civilians giving some guidance/orders to the Joint Chiefs of Staff via the various branch Secretaries and the Secretary of Defense, and is head at the top by the President, but otherwise the military answers to an internal chain of command, where the Secretaries and the President are the only civilians at the top. The word control may not be the best descriptor of this relationship.
- nicobn 10y ago
  I don't mean to nitpick but your explanation is missing a critical detail. The chain of command for operational purposes (military operations) completely bypasses the Joints Chiefs of Staff and goes directly to the Unified Combatant Commands. By design, there is no military leader that has operational control over more than a fraction of US forces at a time, which further improves civilian control over the military. The JCS have a very important role but their control is mostly administrative (doctrine, assignments, equipment, promotions, etc.).
madamelic 10y ago
Citizens have indirect... kinda control... in a way over the military. The "Commander in Chief" (President) has somewhat wide berth of power over the military and can somewhat do what they want with the military. Congress has some checks for what the Commander in Chief can do, but traditionally the CiC has been able to basically send troops to wherever whenever. In terms of actual citizen power over the military, no. Everyday citizens have no power or direct say in the military.

chiph 10y ago

You may have heard of the Golden Rule, which usually means "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But there's a slightly different version which runs: "He who has the gold makes the rules". This is the case in funding the US Department of Defense. The overall budget is set by the Congress (and subdivided innumerable times afterwards by the DoD agencies and departments), so saying that civilians control the military in the US is both true in the operational sense (the military is part of the Executive Branch, and thus under the President, a civilian), but also in a financial sense. More info about the US budget process (which bears a strong resemblance to making sausage..) can be found here: http://budget.house.gov/budgetprocess/ http://budget.house.gov/budgetprocess/

Bahamut 10y ago

The military is under civilian control in the sense that oversight is held by civilians giving some guidance/orders to the Joint Chiefs of Staff via the various branch Secretaries and the Secretary of Defense, and is head at the top by the President, but otherwise the military answers to an internal chain of command, where the Secretaries and the President are the only civilians at the top. The word control may not be the best descriptor of this relationship.

nicobn 10y ago
I don't mean to nitpick but your explanation is missing a critical detail. The chain of command for operational purposes (military operations) completely bypasses the Joints Chiefs of Staff and goes directly to the Unified Combatant Commands. By design, there is no military leader that has operational control over more than a fraction of US forces at a time, which further improves civilian control over the military. The JCS have a very important role but their control is mostly administrative (doctrine, assignments, equipment, promotions, etc.).

madamelic 10y ago

Citizens have indirect... kinda control... in a way over the military. The "Commander in Chief" (President) has somewhat wide berth of power over the military and can somewhat do what they want with the military. Congress has some checks for what the Commander in Chief can do, but traditionally the CiC has been able to basically send troops to wherever whenever. In terms of actual citizen power over the military, no. Everyday citizens have no power or direct say in the military.