Political Use of the United States Armed Forces, 1946-1976 (ICPSR 7595)

Published: Feb 16, 1992

Principal Investigator(s):
Stephen Kaplan; Barry Blechman

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07595.v1

Version V1

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Project Description

Summary

The data in this collection were generated in 1976 as part of a Brookings Institution project studying the use of the United States Armed Forces as a political instrument. By the study's definition, political use of the armed forces occurs when physical actions are taken by one or more components of the uniformed military services as part of a deliberate attempt by the national authorities to influence, or to be prepared to influence, specific behavior of individuals in another nation without engaging in a contest of violence. The study yielded 226 such cases between January 1, 1946, and December 31, 1976. The data can be grouped into seven categories: dates of the events, contextual characteristics of events, types and sizes of United States Armed Forces involved, movement and readiness of forces, activities of forces, non-United States actors involved, and United States public approval of the president within two months of the event.

Citation

Kaplan, Stephen, and Blechman, Barry. Political Use of the United States Armed Forces, 1946-1976. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1992-02-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07595.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Defense. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2820)

Subject Terms

arms race armed forces Cold War disputes international politics military civilian relations military strategies military strength politics public approval presidential performance

Geographic Coverage

United States

Scope of Project

Time Period(s)

1946 -- 1976

Date of Collection

1975 -- 1976

Methodology

Universe

All incidents (226) in which United States armed forces were used as a discrete political instrument between 1946 and 1976.

Data Source

(1) official records of military organizations such as air force, fleet, and division histories, (2) chronologies of international events such as the quarterly chronology in the MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL, and (3) secondary sources, including various events data files, and compilations of United States military activities prepared for other purposes.

Data Type(s)

aggregate data, and event/transaction data

Version(s)

Original Release Date

1984-05-03

Version Date

1992-02-16

Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.
The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented.

This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.