American politicians were less likely to support compulsory military service if they had military-aged sons. This was reported by the University of Chicago press service.
Conscription in the United States was abolished in 1973, and since then the armed forces have been composed of contract soldiers only. The abolition of compulsory military service was accompanied by numerous disputes about the appropriateness and moral justification of this decision.
Economist Eoin McGuirk co-authored with other social scientists published An article examining the influence of family factors in the political decisions that U.S. congressmen would draft in the 20th century. The authors analyzed 248 polling ballots in the United States House of Representatives and Senate between 1917 and 1974. The scientists also collected data on family members of these congressmen during the voting.
It found that congressmen with sons older than the maximum military age voted 18.8 percent more in favor of conscription than those whose sons were younger than that age. Scientists wondered if the difference in resolutions could be explained not by hypocrisy, but by greater awareness of the parents of young boys about the problems with the draft.
It turned out that this was not the case. The authors found that a congressman’s chance of voting on the bill increased by 12.7 percent a year after his son was no longer eligible. According to scientists, it is unlikely that an adult will change his views so radically in a year.
This study provides an example of the impact of personal incentives on policy makers in their decision-making processes.