Abstract
Bureaucratic politics is the favored explanation of those addressing the perversities of defense budgeting. But it is arguably devoid of politics, given its dependence on either aggregate top-down or horizontal models. I seek to redirect analysis. I disaggregate defense spending (by service and weapon type) and study budget sensitivity to program pressures in the buildups and builddowns of the Reagan-Bush eras. Applying a two-equation model to time-series cross-sectional data, the analysis shows weapon budgets increasing with program diversification and a commitment to defense spending. In turn, it shows programs diversifying to accomodate service objectives: when turning to missions, the services increased program varieties while concentrating program resources.
Keywords
BureaucracyPoliticsDiversification (marketing strategy)Service (business)Service memberPolitical scienceEconomicsBusinessPublic administrationMarketingMilitary personnelLaw
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1994
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 88
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 839-852
- Citations
- 17
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
James H. Lebovic
(1994).
Riding Waves or Making Waves? The Services and the U.S. Defense Budget, 1981–1993.
American Political Science Review
, 88
(4)
, 839-852.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2082711
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.2307/2082711