The "second social contract" settles the relation between society, government and the armed forces. Soldiers set aside their own needs for those of the nation. They are requiredto make sacrifices and are in return entitled to enjoy the government’s and society’s support and care. In particular, they can expect to be deployed only after most careful consideration of the involved risks and expected gains.
The increasing number of troop deployments by democratic states after the end of the Cold War has subjected the 'second social contract' – the (in most cases unwritten) agreement regulating relations between society, government and the armed forces – to new stresses. In PRIF Report No. 108 "Democracy, the Armed Forces and Military Deployment: The 'Second Social Contract' is on the Line", Harald Müller, Marco Fey, Sabine Mannitz and Niklas Schörnig examine causes and risks of this development. The authors of this report set out to name the causes and subsequent dangers of this development, urging for future deployment decisions to be more thoroughly and carefully considered. If the democratic responsibility for military deployments is not taken seriously, the gap grows between the armed forces and civilian society.
This PRIF Report was published as HSFK-Report No. 10/2010 "Demokratie, Streitkräfte und militärische Einsätze: Der 'zweite Gesellschaftsvertrag' steht auf dem Spiel" in German. It has been revised and updated for its English publication.
The report can be ordered at PRIF for the price of EUR 10,- and is also available as free PDF download.