Mandatory military service would make the government less powerful as more people are directly being effected by the government decisions, direct impact on Americans leads to more Americans voting, more voting = more control over representatives. The absolute biggest threat to American democracy is that more than a third of eligible voters didn’t vote in 2004. 2006 turnout estimate? 40%. That’s pathetic.
Re-instating a draft to boost the troop levels in Iraq is a horrible idea. Only requiring military service when we’re already involved in a conflict is a horrible idea. Mandatory service to your countries armed forces is not. That said, a policy like mandatory military service needs to be started during peace time.