«Elections in Khaki»: A Phenomenon or a Pattern?

The article abalyzes the term «elections in khaki» («khaki election»), which is widely found in the Anglo-American literature. In our opinion, it is not quite right to limit it to only one, the most commonly understood meaning as elections taking place during the war and (or) immediately after the war. This term has at least three meanings, which can be combined simultaneously even within the framework of one election campaign. In addition to the above-mentioned meaning, «elections in khaki» can also be understood as such elections when issues related to the war (its declaration, further course, end and related moments (general or partial mobilization, etc.)) are of major importance during the election campaign. Finally, «elections in khaki» can also include elections when, in conditions of mass armies with universal military service, combined with universal (at least male) suffrage, uniformed voters play an active and significant role. Although most of these elections took place during the world wars mainly in the countries that we refer to as the Westminster system and the United States, this is also typical for other major military conflicts in other countries of the world. There are a huge number of examples of this kind. Within the framework of this article, we preferred to limit ourselves to only some of the most striking examples of this kind: the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Russia at the end of 1917, parliamentary elections in Great Britain in 1900 and 1918, Canada (1917), Australia (1914 and 1916), etc.

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