ABSTRACT
The broad boundaries are contained in the Constitution, which limits and divides powers among the branches of government and between the state and federal governments, but the relationship between the president and the military, and among the armed services within the military, is defined in laws, the most important of which is the National Security Act of 1947. It established the Department of Defense to preside over the military after the end of World War II. Defense politics is about setting priorities, giving prominence to one agency, budget category, doctrine, interest, technology, program, or theater over another. The prevailing power structure within a bureaucracy is codified in organizational charts that depict the official pecking order, who is supposedly at the top and who is not. In addition to encouraging cooperation among the services, the Goldwater–Nichols Act also changed the balance of power in American civil–military relations.
