The casualty gap : the causes and consequences of American wartime inequalities / Douglas L. Kriner, Francis X. Shen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Ch. 1. The Casualty Gap -- The Politics of Casualties -- Plan of the Book -- Ch. 2. Inequality and U.S. Casualties from WWII to Iraq -- Studying Casualties and Inequality -- Defining and Measuring the Casualty Gap -- Explaining the Casualty Gap -- Assessing the Casualty Gap across Four Wars -- The Individual-Level Casualty Gap and the Problem of Ecological Inference -- Explaining the Casualty Gap -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 2 -- Ch. 3. Selection, Occupational Assignment, and the Emergence of the Casualty Gap -- Mechanism #1: Selection in the Modern Wars -- Mechanism #2: Occupational Assignment within the Military -- The Selection Mechanism Revisited: The Role of the Draft -- Casualty Gaps at the Individual Level -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 3 -- Ch. 4. Do Casualty Gaps Matter? -- The Casualty Gap and Public Support for War -- The Casualty Gap's Influence in 2009 -- Bringing the Casualty Gap into the Public Sphere -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 4 -- Ch. 5. How Local Casualties Shape Politics -- Ch. 6. Political Ramifications of the Vietnam Casualty Gap -- Casualties, Public Opinion, and the Vietnam War -- Local Casualty Rates and Support for the Vietnam War -- Results and Discussion -- The Electoral Consequences of Local Casualties -- Modeling Vote Choice -- Results and Discussion -- The Casualty Gap and the Democratic Brake on Military Adventurism -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 6 -- Ch. 7. Political Ramifications of the Iraq Casualty Gap -- Iraq, Casualties, and Public Opinion -- Iraq, Casualties, and Electoral Dynamics -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 7 -- Ch. 8. The Casualty Gap and Civic Engagement -- War and American Political and Civic Engagement -- The Immediate Effects of Vietnam on Political Participation -- The Lingering Effects of Vietnam on Civic Engagement -- Korea, World War II, and Patterns of Political Engagement -- Technical Appendix to Chapter 8 -- Ch. 9. The Future of the Casualty Gap -- Responding to the Casualty Gap -- Facing up to the Casualty Gap.

"The Casualty Gap shows how the most important cost of American military campaigns - the loss of human life - has been paid disproportionately by poorer and less-educated communities since the 1950s. Drawing on a rich array of evidence, including National Archives data on the hometowns of more than 400,000 American soldiers killed in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, this book is the most ambitious inquiry to date into the distribution of American wartime casualties across the nation, the forces causing such inequalities to emerge, and their consequences for politics and democratic governance." "Although the most immediate costs of military sacrifice are borne by service members and their families, The Casualty Gap traces how wartime deaths also affect entire communities. Americans who see the high price war exacts on friends and neighbors are more likely to oppose a war and its leaders than residents of low-casualty communities. Moreover, extensive empirical evidence connects higher community casualty rates in Korea and Vietnam to lower levels of trust in government, interest in politics, and electoral and non-electoral participation. A series of original survey experiments finds that Americans informed of the casualty gap's existence will accept substantially fewer casualties that those who are not told about inequality in sacrifice." "By presenting a wealth of evidence and analysis, this book seeks both to bolster public awareness of casualty inequalities and to spur critical dialogue about the nation's policy response. The Casualty Gap should be read by all who care about the future of America's military and the effects of war on society and democracy."--BOOK JACKET.