Standing Army System And Western Democratic Politics Development

Now the world, in the overwhelming majority country, the standing army is an important part of the political institution. However, the question of whether deposing the standing army or not once was the hot topic discussed among the politicians as well as political thinkers in the west in both the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Some thinkers such as Adam Smith, Jefferson and so on once has discussed the negative influence the standing army might occur to the civil liberty. The proletariat thinkers advocated the eliminating the standing army, reveals that the goal of eliminating standing army is not only the task of socialist revolution, it is also a task of democratic revolution.The standing army has had the important influence to the development of western democratic polity. However, to the question that how the standing army could be a political sector which coexisted with the democratic system, the domestic academic circle has not produced a systemic explanation. What is more, we even have never seen some one raising this question.In the Middle Ages, the standing army was the prop of the feudal despotic system, and was the important tool of strengthening despotic dominion. In the process of democratic revolution launched by newly rising capitalist class In Europe, the standing army became the useful violent tool that feudal emperors suppress the bourgeois revolution.Many bourgeoisie thinkers realized the abuse of standing army in the revolutionary process. After the bourgeois revolution gained the victory, in order to prevent the standing army to become the tool of threatening people's liberty, the bourgeoisie regimes had put a lot of limitations on standing army. When bourgeoisie's political rule consolidated completely, the contradiction between bourgeoisie and proletariat became the principal contradiction. The standing army became the tool with which the bourgeoisie consolidated political power oppressed the proletariat.Learning the lessons from both the democratic revolution and proletarian revolution, some working class thinkers thought that the proletariat has to eliminate the standing army to realize liberation. Proletariat political parties put the thought of eliminating the standing army to the party principle.The proletariat has obtained some political rights through political struggle, and has won opportunity of participating politics process peacefully. The bourgeois democracy system unceasingly consummates, the standing army is far away from political life.That how to treat the standing army , once upon a time, was an important question which many statesmen and the scholars discussed. In west, there are two different viewpoints. One is take Adam Smith as a representative, whose idea is that the standing army should exist, but should tightly controlled by civil authority, the standing army would not be dangerous factor to the republican regime. Another takes Thomas Jefferson, the third president of US as a representative, thinks that the standing army inevitably endangers the democratic politics, advocates to abolish the standing army, implement the comprehensive military. Their viewpoints are different but all had the significant influence to the military system development in the West. proletarian thinkers advocates the eliminating standing army, and attempts to apply their ideas into practice. As a result of many kinds of reason, the socialist countries have not inherited the forerunners last wish and still retained the standing army.In western world, the standing army once was the stumbling obstacle of democratic system, nut now it already has melt into the democratic system. The socialist countries also definitely hold the standing army. But the standing army still is a threat to world peace, to eliminate standing army is insurmountable task. The article examines the basic function of standing army exerted in the political system in the West, and also examines different viewpoints concerning this question.