Officer Resignation and the Space Between Theory and Practice

• Date: 01 July 2019
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18806504
• Subject Matter: Commentaries

Commentary

Officer Resignation

and the Space Between

Theory and Practice

Ashleen Menchaca-Bagnulo

1

Abstract

Having read the erudite contributions of Dubik, Feaver, Kohn, Mueller, and Snider,

I can only supplement our mutual inquiry through the contribution of an analysis of

officer resignation from the perspective of Western political thought, particularly as

embodied by strands of the civic republic tradition. I believe this tradition can give us

a foundation for talking about officer resignation and a means for drawing strict

boundaries around when such dissent is appropriate.

Keywords

officer resignation, civic republicanism, realism, civil–military relations

The civic republican tradition is especially suited as a framework for considering the

interactions between armed forces and societies because it unites an understanding

of autonomy and individual judgment in a context that also acknowledges the

obligations of public duty and social roles, and the necessity of a mutual search for

a common good in an institutional framework that promotes political stability. In

bringing this tradition and its insights into our conversation, I believe a case can be

made for conscientious officer resignation in times of extreme duress as an aspect of

fulfilling one’s duties to both one’s conscience and one’s country. Those opposed to

1

Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ashleen Menchaca-Bagnulo, Texas State University, UAC 355, 601 University Drive, San Marcos,

TX 78666, USA.

Email: a_k230@txstate.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2019, Vol. 45(3) 532-545

ªThe Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X18806504

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