Liberal Democracies and Compulsory Military Service

Abstract

With regard to the compulsory service of (mostly) men in the military of liberal democracies, there is a line of conflict between, on the one hand, the interpretation that the state in liberal societies cannot force citizens to perform compulsory services of any kind because that would be an unjust interference in the freedom of the citizen. On the other hand, the proponents of compulsory service defend it with reference to the necessity of defending liberal societies. Consequently, an individual compulsion is said to be derived from the ideal of a free society that needs defending. By reference of the examples of Germany, Switzerland and the USA, compulsory military service is presented and discussed. The enforcement of that compulsion in Switzerland is discussed in more detail to show that, with the aim of defending liberal societies, citizens within them were sometimes deprived of their civil rights and subjected to discrimination, without ever receiving an apology or reparation from the state.