The Military Institution and Its Value System

Sociological studies of the military & its value system are dominated by ideological disputes. How can the contradiction between the official requirement of military neutrality & the reality of military conservatism be resolved? Various authors combine a recognition & a denial of military conservatism. Recognition is accompanied by proof that a conservative value system is required for the effectiveness of the military. Negation is achieved by making military values autonomous, relating them only to the inner logic of the institution's operations & severing them from the ideological systems to which they belong. Presented is a critical analysis of four typical examples of the way sociological studies have dealt with the problem of military values: S. Huntington's The Soldier and the State (Cambridge: Harvard U Press, 1957), an essentialist solution; B. Abrahamsson's Military Professionalization and Political Power, (London: Sage Publications, 1972), a psychologistic solution; J. Van Doorn's "Ideology and the Military" (in Van Doorn [Ed], On Military Ideology, Rotterdam: U Press, 1971), a traditionalist explanation, & the socialization explanation. A model based on the concept of a symbol system is proposed. This concept may be analyzed as a justifying mode of discourse, but its normative nature should be stressed. Modified HA.