The nature of civilian and democratic control over the armed forces

The present text addresses the relationship between democratically and legally elected state authorities and the armed forces, which are one of instruments of governance at the state level. Through the analysis of the concepts of “apoliticism”, “subjectivity” and “objectivity” of the military in relation to state institutions, the author concludes the institutional dimension of the civilian democratic control over the armed forces, then enriching it with a non-institutional context. This allows to finally capture the essence and functional characteristics of the multidimensional phenomena, namely the civilian, democratic control over the armed forces in today's state.