The Functions of Military Waste

In: Peace & change: a journal of peace research, Band 16, Heft 2, S. 162-175

Abstract

The military acquisition process is widely regarded, both by participants within the system & outsiders, as rife with wasteful & abusive practices. The fact that such practices persist in spite of efforts to reduce them suggests that waste might be functional. Social functions include maintenance of an unequal class system, legitimation of outgroups, enhancement of cohesion through "institutional awe," & cooptation of the ecomomy by the federal government. Political functions include control of the military by the civilian executive, stabilization of congressional representation, & centralization of federal power. Finally, military waste serves the cultural function of providing a mode of bloodless public sacrifice for the maintenance of the "public good.". AA