The Politics of Military Bases
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Lilly Goren
Military bases have always been complicated as a policy area, with the demands of national security policy and military strategy often at odds with local and state interests and constituent demands upon elected officials. Over the course of more than 200 years, the domestic military basing structure has changed and adapted, often the result of a compendium of factors including shifting military strategies, technological advances, differing alliances, and the changing demographics and constituent desires within a given area or region. The Executive and Legislative branches have both been intimately involved in the military base decision-making process, both in determining where to establish bases and also in the process to select bases for closure or realignment. Over the past thirty years, the issue of base closures has become even more acutely political and, ultimately, led to the creation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) as a successful method to select bases for closure and realignment while also compelling Congress and the President to comply with those decisions.
©2012 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Military in American Politics
- Article
- Civilian Control and the Constitution
- Scholarship on Strategic Studies and Civil-Military Relations: Is American Politics the Neglected 'Poor Relation'?
- The Changing of the Guard: The National Guard's Role in American Politics
- Political Indecision and Military Muddle in an Age of Grand Strategy
- A Political History of the All-Volunteer Army
- The Pendulum Swings: The Fall and Return of ROTC to Elite Campuses, and Why It Matters
- The Politics of Military Bases
- Presidents and Military Command
- Joining Forces: Bridging the Civil-Military Divide
- Review
- Review of Our Army: Soldiers, Politics, and American Civil-Military Relations
- Review of Partisan Balance: Why Political Parties Don't Kill the U.S. Constitutional System
- Review of Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Military in American Politics
- Article
- Civilian Control and the Constitution
- Scholarship on Strategic Studies and Civil-Military Relations: Is American Politics the Neglected 'Poor Relation'?
- The Changing of the Guard: The National Guard's Role in American Politics
- Political Indecision and Military Muddle in an Age of Grand Strategy
- A Political History of the All-Volunteer Army
- The Pendulum Swings: The Fall and Return of ROTC to Elite Campuses, and Why It Matters
- The Politics of Military Bases
- Presidents and Military Command
- Joining Forces: Bridging the Civil-Military Divide
- Review
- Review of Our Army: Soldiers, Politics, and American Civil-Military Relations
- Review of Partisan Balance: Why Political Parties Don't Kill the U.S. Constitutional System
- Review of Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate
