PREVIOUS ARTICLE ALL CONTENTS Next ARTICLE

Twenty Years of Service: The Politics of Military Pension Policy and the Long Road to Reform, Brandon J. Archuleta

Reviewed by Matthew Schmidt

BUY

 

Brandon J. Archuleta’s Twenty Years of Service is a masterpiece of the organizational psychology genre. Would that there were one; our policy fights would be a lot more effective (if less exciting, perhaps) if we understood the subsystems theory that Archuleta applies to extreme effect in this book.

Subsystems, as he conceives them, are the “semi-autonomous” subunits of organizations. But unlike theorists who see these systems as an “Iron Triangle,” rigidly defensive of change, Archuleta argues, especially in his section on the World War I pension system, that they can be resilient through adaptation as well. This is essential to understanding his policy recommendations at the end.

Before Archuleta lands ashore of the present policy debates, he leads us through the dense labyrinth of the history of pension and compensation in the military. He sets the stage with a discussion of the tension in the system. Though the American system is laudable in that it continued to pay a death benefit to a Confederate widow until 2020, it has grown to the point of unsustainability. As the United States entered the wars of the 2000s, the per person cost for active-duty service members rose a whopping 46 percent. In addition, Archuleta paints anecdotes of the absurdity of military band compensation and the stark inequality of a s

To continue reading, see options above.

About PSQ's Editor

ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO

Full Access

Join the Academy of Political Science and automatically receive Political Science Quarterly.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Academy Forum | The Transatlantic Relationship and the Russia-Ukraine War
January 9, 2025
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
WEBINAR

MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT VIEW ALL EVENTS

Editor’s spotlight

Virtual Issue

Introduction: Black Power and the Civil Rights Agendas of Charles V. Hamilton
Marylena Mantas and Robert Y. Shapiro

MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC

Search the Archives

Publishing since 1886, PSQ is the most widely read and accessible scholarly journal with distinguished contributors such as: Lisa Anderson, Robert A. Dahl, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Jervis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Theda Skocpol, Woodrow Wilson

view additional issues

Most read

Articles | Book reviews

Understanding the Bush Doctrine
Robert Jervis

The Study of Administration
Woodrow Wilson

Notes on Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech
Dorothy Borg

view all

New APS Book

Political Conflict in American Politics   POLITICAL CONFLICT IN AMERICAN POLITICS

About US

Academy of Political Science

The Academy of Political Science, promotes objective, scholarly analyses of political, social, and economic issues. Through its conferences and publications APS provides analysis and insight into both domestic and foreign policy issues.

Political Science Quarterly

With neither an ideological nor a partisan bias, PSQ looks at facts and analyzes data objectively to help readers understand what is really going on in national and world affairs.

Stay Connected

newsstand locator
About APS