As has become a habit here, although an infrequent one, I have come up with a song track that will go along with our spiffy new book, Overseen or Overlooked: Legislatures, Militaries, and Democratic Accountability. I didn't consult Phil as his tastes run towards death metal or Dave as he would just look at me, shaking his head.
Chapter 1 Are Legislators Watching the Armed Forces?
Greenday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, because the expectation of oversight does not match the reality in many cases.
John Mellencamp, Authority Song. Legislatures often authorize deployments, but then do they make sure their authority is respected? Hmmm.
Chapter 2 Explaining Legislative Oversight Over the Armed Forces
Foo Fighters, Long Road to Ruin/The Pretender because we need to rock a bit to figure this stuff out, and it turns out that much "oversight" is, alas, not what it appears to be. [I had no idea Ruin has such a wonderfully silly video]
Johnny Rivers, Secret Agent Man because it is the song of principal-agent theory.
Meatloaf, Two out of Three Ain't Bad as we have three factors for coding oversight, and, well, if a country has two of those, it ain't bad.
Chapter 3 Westminster in the Atlantic: the United Kingdom and Canada
Hooters, Day by Day, as British oversight is something that is just a continual thing.
Devo, Whip It, as party discipline dominates in Canada.
Chapter 4 Westminster in Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, and Japan
Billy Joel, A Matter of Trust as NZ was a case of community policing as Phil and I wrote elsewhere.
Don Henley, End of Innocence, as Australia has developed stronger oversight over time.
Go-Gos, Vacation, as the Japanese senior officers were so relieved not to have to worry about testifying to the Diet's defence committees.
Chapter 5 Consensus Democracies in the Heart of Europe: Germany and Belgium
Jimmy Eat World, The Middle, as Belgium is a constant case of compromise as ethnic parties try to keep coalitions together.
Jackson Brown, Doctor My Eyes, as Germany's oversight has seen a lot
Chapter 6 Consensual Democracies in the High North: Finland, Norway, and Sweden
Foreigner, Cold as Ice, because Dave did these cases while also studying Arctic security
placeholder for Phil's Nordic death metal stuff
Chapter 7 Not All Congresses: Brazil, Chile, and South Korea
Eagles combo: Life in the Fast Lane and Take It Easy, as South Korea is in the most dangerous place in the world while the South American cases are those of limited oversight
Chapter 8 Older Presidential Systems: France and the United States
Bowling for Soup, 1985, as US Congressional oversight used to be robust... and polarization has undermined that.
Tears for Fears, Everyone Wants to Rule the World as the French military allies with the legislators to try to drive policy
Chapter 9 Conclusion: Comparisons, Implications, and Lessons
Beastie Boys, Fight for your right! Nice pounding call for action, and all we ask for in the conclusion is some modest reforms. But we need to fight for our right for more civilian control.
Franki Vallie, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You because oversight needs to be a thing all the time.
John Wait, Change as the reforms we suggest require some change, but not radical overhauls. Canada does not have to become the US, but maybe learn from the Aussies and the Brits?
Rolling Stones, Can't Always Get What You Want because we would like more oversight, but we argue that some of the reforms we suggest are simply not going to happen. Executive types are not going to give up their control.
If these do not work for you, read the book and let us know what a better playlist might be.
This playlist was inspired by the one created by Peter Singer and Allan Friedman to promote their Cybersecurity book
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