A More Perfect Military How the Constitution Can Make Our Military Stronger

Surveys show the all-volunteer military is our most respected and trusted institution, but over the last thirty-five years it has grown more distant and estranged from civilian society. Without a draft, imperfect as it was, the military has become increasingly less representative of civilian society. Fewer people accept the obligation for military service, and a larger number lack the knowledge to be engaged participants in civilian control of the military. The end of the draft, however, was not the most important reason we have a significant civil-military gap today. A More Perfect Military explains how the Supreme Court used the cultural division of the Vietnam era to change the nature of our civil-military relations. The Supreme Court describes itself as a strong supporter of the military and its distinctive culture, but in the all-volunteer era, its decisions have consistently undermined the military's traditional relationship to law and the Constitution. Diane Mazur is a scholar in military and constitutional law and a former Air Force officer. She has written A More Perfect Military with an abiding loyalty to the military's better side, but also with a deep concern about the military's drift from its constitutional foundations. Most people would never suspect there is anything wrong, but our civil-military relations are now as constitutionally fragile as they have ever been. A More Perfect Military is a bracingly candid assessment of the military's constitutional health. It crosses ideological and political boundaries and is challenging--even unsettling--to both liberal and conservative views. It is written for those who believe the military may be slipping away from our common national experience. This book is the blueprint for a new national conversation about military service.

Diane H. Mazur is a Professor of Law at the University of Florida and a former Air Force officer. She teaches courses in constitutional law, civil-military relations, evidence, and professional responsibility, and her research focuses on the constitutional, legal, and cultural relationship of the military to civilian society. She is an advisor to the National Institute of Military Justice, a senior editor of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, and legal co-director of the Palm Center, a research organization studying military issues at the University of California, Santa Barbara.