Toward a Concept of the "Warrior Class": The Impact of Sub-Cultures in Civil-Military Relations

Abstract

I posit that there is a distinct sub-culture in the U.S. military: the warrior class. Current civil-military relations research fails to account for this group while comparing attitudinal and behavioral cleavages between the two sectors. This sub-group has the potential to create civilian opinions and stereotypes about the military. This research accounts for this group by creating variables for the warrior class. I create these variables by employing factor analysis using eight variables that characterize the warrior class. This analysis reveals four distinct dimensions of the warrior class. These dimensions are the warrior class variables. I use these variables to measure common discussions in extant civil-military relations research. A fear among some senior military leaders is that Americans are losing touch with their military. I propose, instead, the military is losing touch with the American people because warrior class attitudes and perceptions represent that of the military as a whole. I predict the warrior class will reject positive civilian sentiments towards the military, further exacerbating the civil-military divide. I find the warrior class does not reject these positive civilian sentiments, but in some cases, embraces them. The warrior class does, however, feel a disconnection with civilian society. Furthermore, previous research has found the military largely affiliates with the Republican Party and leans more conservative. The warrior class does not differ in this respect; they identify as Republicans and lean more conservative. The warrior class’s political affiliation and ideology have no bearing on their preference for a Democrat or Republican Commander-in-Chief of the military. In this respect, they remain neutral in their preference for the top civilian leader of the military. However, I find party identification and political ideology are stable predictors of military preferences for Commander-in-Chief, despite warrior class preferences. With this research, I am adding another consideration into scholarly knowledge on how we gauge civil-military relations research. I go beyond basic demographic variables and paint a clearer picture in the way the military thinks by accounting for military sub-groups.