Serfs, Soldiers, Citizens - by Michael P Jasinski (Hardcover)

About the Book

Serfs, Soldiers, Citizens argues that democracies do not have monopoly on qualities or policies necessary to ensure high effectiveness in a military conflict. Under certain conditions, autocracies can have pronounced advantage over democracies in certain types of conflict, especially if the autocratic regime is recovering from a recent defeat.

Book Synopsis

Serfs, Soldiers, Citizens argues that democracies do not have monopoly on qualities or policies necessary to ensure high effectiveness in a military conflict. Under certain conditions, autocracies can have pronounced advantage over democracies in certain types of conflict, especially if the autocratic regime is recovering from a recent defeat.

Review Quotes

Serfs, Soldiers, and Citizens: Military Effectiveness and the Social Contract focuses on the relationship between national-level welfare state programs, broadly defined, and military effectiveness. The authors persuasively argue that robust national social welfare programs, which empower more ordinary citizens, correlate with more effective overall performance in war. Moreover, they find that this can be equally true for democratic and autocratic states. Gathering evidence from an array of nation#39;s policies, this book offers a fresh angle on governments#39; promises to their citizens, in war and peace.

About the Author

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.