Service Guarantees Citizenship: Starship Troopers and Democracy

Abstract

Most people living in modern democratic governments take for granted that citizenship is a birthright. Simply by being born in a country, an individual expects to have the liberty to speak and act freely, to have equal protection under the law, and to be able to participate in government. In the world of Starship Troopers, though, citizenship must be earned. In order to vote, run for political office, or even have children freely, individuals must serve a complete term of service to the government. When an alien bug species attacks the city of Buenos Aires, the earthly government, known as the Terran Federation, is caught off guard. The Federation ramps up recruitment efforts, especially for the Mobile Infantry unit, which will be the front line of defense in the bug war. One such recruitment ad opens the film: “Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future…They’re doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world – Service Guarantees Citizenship. To ensure the safety of our solar system, Klendathu must be eliminated!”1 The Terran Federation uses the promise of citizenship to entice graduating high school seniors to join the war effort. As is the case in the audience’s own world, the choice to enlist in the military during an active conflict is dangerous. In the United States, recent graduates may consider the risk of joining the military during an active conflict worthwhile given the promise of educational opportunities, job training, health care benefits, and the potential for a lifetime career. In Starship Troopers, however, enlisting and risking life and limb in battle against the bugs is the only way to gain the liberties of citizenship. Starship Troopers offers insight into two related concepts in political science:citizenship and democracy. Today, most modern democracies grant citizenship status to anyone born in that country. Some democracies also offer the opportunity for foreigners to earn citizenship through military service, such as France throughservice in the Foreign Legion. Historically, however, most participatory and representative forms of government had highly regulated requirements for citizenship status that included restrictions on age, gender, property ownership, religion, military service, and lineage. Starship Troopers gives us a window into the ways society, religion, and culture influence ideas about who should be able to participate and the qualities that define good citizenship. In addition to challenging our contemporary understanding of citizenship, thefilm also confronts a long-standing assumption in political science, that there is a clear relationship between military rule and regime type. Historically, military governments have been viewed as authoritarian regimes with power vested in the hands of a small number of military leaders. By contrast, the Terran Federation is governed democratically while also having strong military rule. Although only those who have completed government (typically military) service may participate as citizens, the process for choosing representatives and passing laws allows full participation for all those who have earned citizenship. Moreover, Starship Troopers challenges the idea that democratic governments are more likely to observe the rule of law and are less violent. Under Terran rule, Earth has been a very lawful place with extremely low crime rates and little conflict. Despite, or even because of the military rule, domestic peace has been easy to maintain and is only broken by the external attacks by the bugs. Based loosely on Robert Heinlein’s novel of the same name, the film offers theopportunity to question whether there might be advantages to military rule and a more restrictive form of citizenship.2 Despite winning the 1959 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel, Heinlein’s book received much criticism for its political ideas. Some critics claimed the novel glorified war and even promoted fascism, an authoritarian system of government that encourages extreme national loyalty.3Director Paul Verhoeven’s film adaptation of the book mostly retains the same political structure outlined by Heinlein, but Verhoeven offers a far more critical examination of that system. Although a campy satire that lampoons the overconfident Terran government and its propaganda machine, the film raises serious political questions about citizenship and democracy.