ABSTRACT
Many commentators agree that Ronald Reagan’s tenure in the White House was marked by some major shifts in American domestic and foreign policies and governmental priorities. Such courses of action as the cutback in tax rates, substantial restraint on domestic programs and spending, and vast infusion of funds into the military sector, were some of the principal policy initiatives we associate with the Reagan administration. It is my contention that, at least with respect to the last-named example, the Reagan policy represents nothing more than ‘politics as usual.’ That is to say, while dramatic in terms of the quantities of money involved in the ‘Reagan defense buildup,’ the policy was simply a continuation of past practice, one which reflected certain typical responses to a set of conditions that has come to play a major role in shaping American military spending practices.
