The Garrison State was a 1941 article in the American Journal of Sociology

American Journal of Sociology

The American Journal of Sociology was established in 1895 by Albion Small and is the oldest academic journal of sociology in the United States. The journal is attached to the University of Chicago's sociology department and it is published bimonthly by The University of Chicago Press. Its...

by political scientist and sociologist Harold Lasswell

Harold Lasswell

Harold Dwight Lasswell was a leading American political scientist and communications theorist. He was a member of the Chicago school of sociology and was a professor at Yale University in law. He was a President of the American Political Science Association and World Academy of Art and Science...

. It was a "developmental construct" that outlined the possibility of a political-military elite composed of "specialists in violence" in a modern state.

Lasswell was particularly influenced by the development of aerial warfare

Aerial warfare

Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...

, especially as employed during the Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

, which he believed would lead to a "socialization of danger" throughout society.

External links

• "The Garrison State" from University of Chicago Press
• "The Garrison State" at JSTOR