Alexa Picks Cato's Examination of Draft Registration
by Joe Pulcinella
Alexa, the de facto web ranking system owned by Amazon.com, picked The Cato Institute's Draft Registration: The Politics of Institutional Immortality as their editor's pick today.
When Congress initiated conscription for World Wars I and II, it simply registered young men en masse. With the reinstitution of a peacetime draft after World War II, the Selective Service established an ongoing registration program, a practice continued despite the inauguration of the All-Volunteer Force in 1973. Two years later, however, President Gerald Ford suspended registration and the Selective Service was placed in "deep standby" status. Concern about the quality of the AVF led to proposals for renewed registration and conscription; while Congress rejected those proposals, it did begin to expand the Selective Service, and the Carter administration developed a plan for postmobilization registration. Then came the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which led President Carter to propose the registration of both men and women. After rancorous debate, Congress approved funding to sign up 18-year-old men.
The article is from 1994 but it is an exhaustive examination of conscription and is a good reference.