Societal Control of the Armed Forces - New Criteria for an Old Framework

Although the primacy of the political has incontestable manifested itself in established democracies, the question of the control or oversight of the military by civilian actors proves to be as relevant as ever before. However, the executive power as point of reference in a mostly self-referential civil-military-debate is of limited explanatory value today. Holding not only national security structures, but also the “guardians of the guardians”, accountable is the task of an emancipated civilian side that encompasses a broader than usual understanding of civilian expertise. This submission seeks to deconstruct the limitations of prevailing civil-military relations concepts based on new criteria and a methodology that widens the focus of inquiry by drawing on a cognitive-interpretative approach (exploiting data from problem-centred interviews with grassroots actors). The aim is to show how actors have changed or been integrated into the debate on security and defense in response to altering institutional frameworks.