Figure 1. The Authority Signal: The Long-Horizon Effect

This dataset contains the original doctrinal framework and accompanying explanatory notation for Figure 1 of Nicolin R. Decker’s paper, The Authority Signal: Women’s Military Combat Eligibility, Institutional Legitimacy, and the Long-Horizon Architecture of National Resilience (2026). Figure 1 introduces The Authority Signal, a systems-based framework examining how state recognition of eligibility for consequential authority may influence the institutional pathways through which authority is legitimized, developed, and distributed over time. The figure presents a proposed long-horizon progression: Eligibility → Recognition → Visibility → Legitimacy → Aspiration → Opportunity → Succession → Normalization The framework examines the proposition that institutional eligibility decisions may extend beyond immediate personnel outcomes and influence broader systems of leadership development, institutional legitimacy, and national resilience. The accompanying doctrinal clarification provides comparative historical illustrations demonstrating the long-horizon nature of institutional change. The first illustration examines women’s progression within NASA, comparing the limited professional and technical access available during the Apollo era with contemporary participation in scientific, engineering, mission leadership, and astronaut roles. The second illustration examines African-American advancement within major corporate leadership, demonstrating how the dismantling of categorical barriers may precede later access to executive authority through education, professional development, operational responsibility, and succession pathways. These comparisons are not presented as legally identical events or as proof of direct causation. Rather, they illustrate a recurring institutional pattern: formal eligibility may precede visibility; visibility may contribute to legitimacy; legitimacy may expand opportunity; and opportunity may influence future leadership succession and normalization across generations. The figure was developed as an original analytical framework to support research examining the relationship between military combat eligibility, institutional authority, leadership architecture, and national resilience. It is intended for use by researchers, policymakers, educators, and analysts examining systems-level effects of institutional access decisions. The dataset preserves the original figure, doctrinal structure, and explanatory notation for citation, review, reproduction, and further scholarly analysis. The accompanying manuscript provides the broader theoretical framework, methodology, and discussion of limitations.