Long war & the erosion of democratic culture

Enduring military mobilization in peacetime and long periods of war may not only weaken elements of democratic accountability and institutions, the checks and balances associated with both young and mature democratic systems, but more insidiously, over time, war may undermine the culture and values that support democratic institutions and processes. Democracies depend not only on these institutional arrangements and processes; they are moored in, motivated, and lubricated by a constellation of normative beliefs, values, capacities, and feelings: namely, empathyand respect for others, the willingness to hear and be persuaded by other’s views, willingness of the minority to cede to the majority so long as their rights are protected, and, perhaps most important, the promise that force is taken off the table because might does not make right. When war is sparked by fear, and the mobilization that sustains war amplifies fear, war and high levels of military mobilization in peacetime can undermine the manners and norms–civil discourse, participation, trust, empathy, and tolerance–that are prerequisites and characteristic of democracy