The Relationship Between Civilian and Military Leaders in Norway – Gap or Convergence?

Following the work of the pioneering military sociologists Samuel Huntington and Morris Janowitz, later scholars in the field have specifically addressed the relationship between the military and civil society. Furthering research into the depth and nature of differences of opinion between the two on political and cultural issues, here I report the results of an empirical study of the relationship between military leaders and other significant elite groups in Norwegian society. A substantial gap is revealed between the generals and admirals and other Norwegian elites concerning political preferences. In the parliamentary election in 2013, a huge majority of the military elite voted for the conservative Høyre party; only a little over a third of the total Norwegian elite, however, did the same. The empirical study also shows there to be extensive intersectoral trust between top military officers and other national leader groups – a topic which has received scant attention in the civil-military “gap” literature. Military services receive relatively high trust. And for their part, generals and admirals accord relatively high trust to other significant institutions in Norway – but it appears that Norwegian politicians place more trust in the armed forces than they receive from the top officers. Over a short period of time, the opinions of the military elite shifted on key national questions (the center-periphery issue and the role of religion in society, for two).