Using Manpower Policies to Transform the Force and Society: The Case of the Pakistan Army

Abstract

Military manpower policies have an impact beyond the garrison. Policy makers have long held that military service can darn social fabrics that have been rent by ethnic, communal, class, and other cleavages, while scholars debate whether and how this occurs. Because military participation has implications for citizenship, marginalized groups have campaigned to be allowed to participate in the military, and leveraged their service to achieve greater enfranchisement. Military service affects the society in a whole in other ways as well: for example, leaders with military experience are less likely than other to prefer military force when other options are available. This paper examines the Pakistan army, which, with its domination of the state, feared Islamist tendencies, and incessant belligerence towards India, seems to differ markedly from other militaries. But, using army recruitment and household survey data, we show that even the Pakistan army has used personnel policies to reshape its force, despite the numerous challenges of such a course.