Effective Management of Defence Policy: The Role of Democratic Security Policy Communities

Abstract

Rules (comprising constitutions, laws and procedures) are an imperative for the transformation of civil-military relations from the communist model to one in line with those practised in liberal democracies. However, the framework provided by rules is not enough if those who are meant to be controlling and overseeing the military (the executive, the parliament and civil society) are not efficiently making use of them. For this reason, effective management of defence policy is central to democratic control of the military and involves the democratic control of defence policy and the democratic control of the military dimension of foreign policy.¹ It is about the capacity and willingness to exercise control within the framework established by the constitution, laws and procedures. This capacity, in turn, is determined chiefly by the availability of independent civilian expertise, which facilitates the formulation of policy, as well as its scrutiny, and hence increases the chain of accountability. That civilian expertise needs to be found not only in government, but also in the autonomous institutions found in civil society in liberal democratic societies.