“Manifestly unlawful”: How US troops think about the duty to disobey illegal orders

US troops are required to disobey unlawful orders but obey lawful ones – yet social scientists know very little about how they draw that line or what drives the decision to actually disobey when it counts. We asked 818 active-duty American troops to define “manifestly unlawful orders” in their own words, as well as whether they would obey or disobey specific scenarios in which they might be asked to directly and intentionally target unarmed civilians. A majority of troops could provide clear examples of situations in which they would feel compelled to disobey orders. Of specific scenarios, over a third of US troops were prepared to disobey orders to target civilians, either with nuclear weapons or if asked to shoot civilian protesters. Controlling for gender, age, branch of service, party affiliation, voting behavior, rank, income, and education, we find simply thinking ahead about the concept of “manifestly unlawful orders” is the single biggest predictor of soldiers’ willingness to refuse to harm civilians.