{"id":92,"date":"2025-05-29T08:12:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T12:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=92"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:12:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T12:12:26","slug":"from-conscription-to-choice-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/29\/from-conscription-to-choice-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"From Conscription to Choice \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Fifty years ago, in 1973, the United States ended military conscription, also known as the draft. The United States drafted soldiers for every major war since the Revolutionary War, but before 1940 did not use conscription during peacetime. Instituting a military draft was always a contentious issue. Daniel Webster protested against conscripting men for the War of 1812. He s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oll.libertyfund.org\/title\/webster-daniel-webster-on-the-draft-text-of-a-speech-delivered-in-congress-december-9-1814\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">aid the draft trampled down and destroyed personal liberty<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. On the other hand, the Father of our country, George Washington, saw military service as an individual&#8217;s civic responsibility, saying, &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/library\/digitalhistory\/past-projects\/quotes\/article\/it-may-be-laid-down-as-a-primary-position-and-the-basis-of-our-system-that-every-citizen-who-enjoys-the-protection-of-a-free-government-owes-not-only-a-proportion-of-his-property-but-even-his-personal-services-to-the-defence-of-it-and-consequently-that-th\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2026<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> of it\u2026&#8221; Interestingly, most soldiers in each conflict were volunteers, though many may have volunteered to avoid being conscripted.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Economists such as Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan were at the forefront of making the case to end military conscription. They argued the draft was costly and inefficient. At first glance, this claim seems incorrect. A draft usually lowers how much the government pays for defense since the government can pay conscripts well below competitive wage rates.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But, the economists pointed out this ignores opportunity cost. The cost of military personnel is not what Uncle Sam pays them but the alternative goods and services they would produce outside military service. By requiring the military to bid for labor like other employers, the military is more likely to attract young people with the requisite skills and aptitude for military service than if their services are coerced.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The economists argued that paying soldiers competitive wages provides adequate incentives for enlistment <\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">and leads those best suited for military service to join the military ranks<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Indeed, the volunteer military has become more professional as pay and benefits have improved.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, the military is not representative of the country as a whole. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/01\/10\/us\/military-enlistment.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Nearly eighty percent of soldiers now come from military families<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, and recruits are disproportionately from counties with military bases nearby and rural and southern areas. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/ideas\/2013\/07\/why-founding-fathers-would-object-todays-military\/66668\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">The Constitution&#8217;s framers feared large, permanent, and professional armies<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. James Madison wrote, &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/quotes\/4742\/#:~:text=Of%20all%20the%20evils%20to%20public%20liberty%2C%20war%20is%20perhaps,the%20dominion%20of%20the%20few.\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.&#8221;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In the fifty years since conscription ended, the U.S. military has been able to pursue the President&#8217;s and Congress&#8217;s military objectives. Barring some unforeseen event, the President and Congress will not likely reinstate conscription anytime soon.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifty years ago, in 1973, the United States ended military conscription, also known as the draft. The United States drafted soldiers for every major war since the Revolutionary War, but before 1940 did not use conscription during peacetime. Instituting a military draft was always a contentious issue. Daniel Webster protested against conscripting men for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[511],"tags":[927,925,245,928,930,929,923,921,147,524,926,272,241,520,163,920,347,906,924,246,750,922,35,386],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-alan-greenspan","tag-civic-responsibility","tag-congress","tag-conscripts","tag-constitution","tag-cost","tag-daniel-webster","tag-draft","tag-economics","tag-economist","tag-george-washington","tag-incentives","tag-james-madison","tag-labor","tag-military","tag-military-conscription","tag-milton-friedman","tag-opportunity-cost","tag-personal-liberty","tag-president","tag-property","tag-revolutionary-war","tag-united-states","tag-wages"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From Conscription to Choice \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/29\/from-conscription-to-choice-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Conscription to Choice \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fifty years ago, in 1973, the United States ended military conscription, also known as the draft. 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