While much research has been conducted into the political behavior and attitudes of American military officers, little has been accomplished with respect to enlisted personnel. Most reports assume that the American military identify largely with the Republican Party and are mostly conservative in attitude. The most recent large-scale study, the TISS Survey on the Military in the Post Cold War Era conducted by Feaver and Kohn in 1998-1999, confirmed those assumptions among senior officers and is often quoted as representative of the entire military. However, the demographic characteristics of enlisted personnel predict different behavior. The enlisted ranks of the American military are over-represented by minorities who traditionally identify with the Democratic Party. The present study gathered data on enlisted personnel, by means of a survey, to determine whether that specialized population is significantly different in attitude and behavior from that of the officer corps and of the general American population. Enlisted personnel identify with the Republican Party in about the same proportion as do the general American population. However, only about half as many enlisted personnel identify with the Democratic Party as do civilians. Enlisted personnel are also about three times more likely to identify as Independents as do other Americans. Active-duty enlisted personnel demonstrate a 1.7 to 1 partisan (Republican to Democrat) ratio, similar to that found in the veteran enlisted sample (1.8 to 1) and the officer sample (1.6 to 1). The civilian sample shows a .95 to 1 partisan ratio. Thus, active-duty enlisted personnel who identify with a political party are about twice as likely to identify with the Republican Party as are civilians. However, active-duty enlisted personnel are nearly four times as likely as civilians to report being Independent, and are substantially less likely than civilians to identify with the Democratic Party. The Republican to Democrat ratio may well explain the commentary about and observations of a Republican dominated military. Despite the fact that the overall proportion of Republicans within the military is no greater than that found within the general population, that there are twice as many individuals who will state that they are Republicans as those who will state that they are Democrats can easily give the impression of a heavily Republican population. However, active-duty enlisted personnel remain strongly independent when compared to the civilian population. Of special note is a markedly higher political efficacy among military enlisted personnel than is found within the general American population. / text

La crise qui sévit actuellement au sein du leadership supérieur des Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) ramène au premier plan certaines lacunes structurelles profondes de la culture militaire canadienne. Le peu de représentation féminine parmi les postes clés fait resurgir les questionnements quant aux barrières limitant leur accès. L’objectif de ce mémoire sera d’abord de raconter les parcours de carrières de femmes militaires actives au sein de la Force régulière et d’en cerner les obstacles vécus en fonction du genre. Le matériel empirique puisé à partir des récits de vie permettra ensuite de déterminer l’existence de barrières structurelles pour identifier leur nature, leur construit et leur reproduction. Cette recherche est le produit de 15 entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés auprès de femmes militaires actives de la Force régulière. Elles évoluent distinctement dans les trois éléments des FAC (Marine royale canadienne, Armée canadienne et Aviation royale du Canada) et font carrière dans plus d’une dizaine de métiers différents. Le matériel empirique recueilli a permis de cibler des moments clés de la carrière et d’ensuite procéder à une analyse de croisement des données. Au niveau des parcours de carrière individuels, ce mémoire démontre que la culture normative dominante est issue d’une masculinité hégémonique. Ainsi, les métiers des armes de combat demeurent toujours les plus valorisés de l’organisation, étant ceux par lesquels passe l’ascension vers les rangs supérieurs. Structurellement, les allers-retours entre empirie et théorie ainsi que les interactions entre structure et individualité confirment l’existence de rapports de pouvoir multilatéraux, allant au-delà de la logique top-down de la hiérarchie. Ce multilatéralisme est vécu horizontalement en raison de la culture normative puis verticalement dans la hiérarchisation des rôles de genre et des échanges entre leaders et subordonné·e·s. Combiné aux exigences institutionnelles des FAC, il exacerbe les défis invisibles auxquels les femmes militaires se heurtent dans l’ascension des rangs, notamment en rapport avec la crédibilité minée, la conciliation travail-famille, la posture maternelle et le tokénisme d’être « première femme ». En donnant la parole aux récits de vie et aux parcours de carrières de femmes actuellement en service, ce mémoire contribue à briser l’invisibilité des réalités vécues et d’identifier les barrières structurelles de genre intrinsèque aux FAC. Au niveau empirique, la méthode utilisée contribue à l’avancement des recherches sur les parcours de carrière des femmes militaires des Forces armées canadiennes. Au niveau théorique, la méthode amène de nouvelles perspectives d’analyse complémentaires au féminisme d’État en l’appliquant à une bureaucratie atypique. Les théories mobilisées soulèvent des pistes de solution dans l’élaboration de politiques qui assureraient une meilleure rétention des femmes militaires déjà en poste. La recherche contribue également à la littérature francophone qui traite du leadership militaire féminin et des enjeux de genre dans les FAC. / The current crisis amongst the senior leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) brings to the forefront structural gaps within Canadian military culture more broadly. The paltry representation of women within key posts has resurfaced questions surrounding barriers to entry. The objective of this thesis is primarily to present the career trajectories of Regular Force female members of the military and to highlight the obstacles they face because of their gender. The empirical data taken from these narratives allows for identifying structural barriers, their nature, their construction, and their reproduction. This research is the result of 15 semi-directed in-depth interviews conducted with female members of the military in the Regular Force. These women develop differently according to the three distinct elements of the CAF (Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force) and bear witness to careers lived across more than ten different trades. The empirical data allows for the triangulation of key moments within each woman’s career and to then proceed to crossreferencing. On an individual career level, this thesis shows that the dominant normative culture derives from hegemonic masculinity. Furthermore, trades belonging to the combat arms are still the most valued within the organisation and represent the path to the highest attainable ranks. Structurally, the liaison between theory and empirical practice, and those between structures and individuality confirm the existence of multilateral relationships of power. These relationships go beyond the topdown logic of hierarchy. This multilateralism is lived horizontally because of the normative culture, vertically based on the hierarchization of gender roles, and also amidst the exchanges between leaders and subordinates. Combined with the CAF’s institutional requirements, this exacerbates the invisible challenges which confront women as they climb the ranks, notably with regard to credibility, worklife balance, motherhood, and the tokenism of being the “first woman.” By giving a platform to these narratives from currently serving women, this thesis serves to break invisible lived realities and identify the gendered structural barriers intrinsic to the CAF. On an empirical level, the method used contributes to the advancement of research on the career trajectories of woman in the Canadian Armed Forces. On a theoretical level, the method used applies new analytical perspectives related to state feminism and directs them toward an atypical bureaucracy. The theories discussed within this project upend the current policies which seek to promote retention amongst women already serving. This research also contributes to the body of francophone literature which deals with female military leadership and with gender issues in the CAF.