Arrangements for the Democratic
Control of Defence Activities
Col. Andras Ujj PhD,
HU AF
“WAR IS A MUCH TOO SERIOUS
MATTER TO BE ENTRUSTED TO
THE MILITARY”
Georges Clemenceau
“But who guards the Guards?”
(Plato)
WHAT IS THAT?
• H. Lasswell: The Garrison State (American Journal of Sociology 46,
1941)
• S. Andrzejewski: Military Organisation and Society (London:
Routlege & Kegan Paul Ltd. 1954)
• S. Huntington: The Soldier and the State: The theory and Politics of
Civil-Military Relations (Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Bellknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 1957)
• M. Janowitz: The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait
(London: The Free Press of Glencoe Collier-Macmillan Ltd. 1960)
• S. Finer: The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics
(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1962)
• B. Abrahamsson: Military Professionalization and Political Power
(Beverly Hills & London: Sage Publications, 1972)
Criteria of Democratic
Control

Division of civilian authority;

Parliamentary oversight;

Subordination of military decision making bodies to
civilian institutions;

Military prestige, trustworthiness, accountability;
(Jeffrey Simon)
THE PLAYERS
Elements of the Democratic Control I.
(the Hungarian example)
1. National Assembly (Defence Com., Budget Com.,
National Security Com., Com. for Industry, Com. on
Science, etc.)
2. Constitutional Court
3. President of the Republic
4. Jurisdictional System
5. National Audit Office
6. Government
THE PLAYERS
Elements of the Democratic Control I.
(the Hungarian example)
7. National Security Cabinet
8. Prime Minister’s Office
9. Ministry of Defence
10. Ombudsman
11. Nongovernmental Organisations
12. Mass Media
Principles of Democratic Control

The state is only one actor in society that has the legitimate monopoly of force.
The armed forces and security services are accountable to the legitimate
democratic authorities;

The Parliament is sovereign and holds the executive accountable for the
development, implementation and review of the security and defense policy;

The Parliament has a unique constitutional role in authorizing and scrutinizing
defense and security expenditures;

The Parliament plays a crucial role with regard to declaring and lifting a state of
emergency or state of war;

Principles of good governance and the rule of law apply to all branches of
government and therefore also to the security sector;

Defense and security sector personnel are individually accountable to judicial
courts for violations of national and international laws;

Defense and security sector organizations are politically neutral;
Summary of the Theories
(Key Aspects of Democratic Control)

Constructive Military-Societal Relations;

Expertise;

Well Institutionalized Democratic Accountability;

Sharing of Responsibility;
The Creation Process of the
Democratic Control

Development of the Institutional Structure;

Division of the Jurisdiction and Sphere of
Authorities;

Development of Individual Relations to
Democratic Control – Shaping of Personal
Attitudes;
DIFFERENCES
POLITICAL
CONTROL
versus
DEMOCRATIC
CONTROL
CHANGES I.



The mission and role of Armed Forces
The social status of Armed Forces
The tools and methods of fulfillment of missions
Consequences (among others)
New type of relationship between civil society and its
own Armed Forces
Openness – Mutual Confidence -
Transparency
on base of
CHANGES II.
New strategy


on civil-military relations
on public relations
in their nature and methods
Non negligible tools:
 information
 education
CHANGES III.
MILITARY EDUCATION versus DEFENSE EDUCATION
How to fight?
How to use?
Special Education and Training for civil servants
 executives
 decision makers
Public Information
to whom – what about?
General Information on a certain level for the civil
society about:






mission,
tasks,
structure,
command and control,
equipments,
conditions of life and duty, etc.
of the Armed Forces.
Practical Aspects



The influence of the policy on the militaries
and vice versa
How the military represents the society?
Tensions between civilians and militaries
FIGHT or CO-OPERATION?
DEPENDENCE or INTERDEPENDENCE?
Relations

Politicians and Militaries;

Militaries and Civil Servants;

Politicians and Politicians;

Defence Sphere and the Citizens;
QUESTIONS ?