The Soldier and the Changing State

The Soldier and the Changing State PDF

Author: Zoltan Barany

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2012-09-16

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 0691137692

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Looking at how armies supportive of democracy are built, this title argues that the military is the important institution that states maintain, for without military elites who support democratic governance, democracy cannot be consolidated. It demonstrates that building democratic armies is the quintessential task of democratizing regimes.

The Democratic Coup D'état

The Democratic Coup D'état PDF

Author: Ozan O. Varol

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 019062602X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The term coup d'état--French for stroke of the state--brings to mind coups staged by power-hungry generals who overthrow the existing regime, not to democratize, but to concentrate power in their own hands as dictators. We assume all coups look the same, smell the same, and present the same threats to democracy. It's a powerful, concise, and self-reinforcing idea. It's also wrong. In The Democratic Coup d'État, Ozan Varol advances a simple, yet controversial, argument: Sometimes, a democracy is established through a military coup. Covering events from the Athenian Navy's stance in 411 B.C. against a tyrannical home government, to coups in the American colonies that ousted corrupt British governors, to twentieth-century coups that toppled dictators and established democracy in countries as diverse as Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, and Colombia, the book takes the reader on a gripping journey. Connecting the dots between these neglected events, Varol weaves a balanced narrative that challenges everything we thought we knew about military coups. In so doing, he tackles several baffling questions: How can an event as undemocratic as a military coup lead to democracy? Why would imposing generals-armed with tanks and guns and all-voluntarily surrender power to civilian politicians? What distinguishes militaries that help build democracies from those that destroy them? Varol's arguments made headlines across the globe in major media outlets and were cited critically in a public speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Written for a general audience, this book will entertain, challenge, and provoke, but more importantly, serve as a reminder of the imperative to question the standard narratives about our world and engage with all ideas, no matter how controversial.

The Army and Democracy

The Army and Democracy PDF

Author: Aqil Shah

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2014-04-29

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0674728939

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In sharp contrast to neighboring India, the Muslim nation of Pakistan has been ruled by its military for over three decades. The Army and Democracy identifies steps for reforming Pakistan’s armed forces and reducing its interference in politics, and sees lessons for fragile democracies striving to bring the military under civilian control.

Democracies at War

Democracies at War PDF

Author: Dan Reiter

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-07-01

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781400824458

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Why do democracies win wars? This is a critical question in the study of international relations, as a traditional view--expressed most famously by Alexis de Tocqueville--has been that democracies are inferior in crafting foreign policy and fighting wars. In Democracies at War, the first major study of its kind, Dan Reiter and Allan Stam come to a very different conclusion. Democracies tend to win the wars they fight--specifically, about eighty percent of the time. Complementing their wide-ranging case-study analysis, the authors apply innovative statistical tests and new hypotheses. In unusually clear prose, they pinpoint two reasons for democracies' success at war. First, as elected leaders understand that losing a war can spell domestic political backlash, democracies start only those wars they are likely to win. Secondly, the emphasis on individuality within democratic societies means that their soldiers fight with greater initiative and superior leadership. Surprisingly, Reiter and Stam find that it is neither economic muscle nor bandwagoning between democratic powers that enables democracies to win wars. They also show that, given societal consent, democracies are willing to initiate wars of empire or genocide. On the whole, they find, democracies' dependence on public consent makes for more, rather than less, effective foreign policy. Taking a fresh approach to a question that has long merited such a study, this book yields crucial insights on security policy, the causes of war, and the interplay between domestic politics and international relations.

War and the Rise of the State

War and the Rise of the State PDF

Author: Bruce D. Porter

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"In a sweeping study of the West over the last 500 years, Bruce Porter shows the astonishing range of warfare's modernizing effects on states. Warfare unifies, rallies, and bureaucratizes both states and their populaces; warfare triggers nationalism, reform movements, and revolutions. More positively, through its inevitable mobilization of citizenry, war has been a contributing cause of virtually all major social movements and even democracy. Porter examines major civil wars as well as international conflicts, showing how they served as catalysts for the New Monorachies, absolutist states, nation-states, totalitarian states, and contemporary industrial and post-industrial states. Finishing with an examination of the impact on the American state of the Civil War, the two World Wars, and the Cold War, Porter reveals our own paradox: pro-military conservatives denounce big government, forgetting that military might presupposes political power; anti-military liberals embraces to the power of the state to accomplish social ends while hesitating to acknowledge the military origins of that power."--The dust-jacket flaps.

The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific

The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific PDF

Author: Ronald James May

Publisher: ANU E Press

Published: 2004-03-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1920942009

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific, a number of prominent regional specialists take a fresh look at the military's changing role in selected countries of Asia and the Pacific, particularly with regard to the countries' performance against criteria of democratic government. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Fiji and Papua New Guinea all fall under the spotlight as the authors examine the role which the military has played in bringing about changes of political regime, and in resisting pressures for change.

The Military’s Impact on Democratic Development

The Military’s Impact on Democratic Development PDF

Author: David Kuehn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-23

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1351048759

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Despite the decline in the number of military coups since the 1960s and 1970s, Militaries continue to be crucial political actors in many world regions. Their impact on the democratic development of nations, however, has been mixed. On the one hand, coups against democratically elected leaders in Mali (2012), Egypt (2013), and Thailand (2014) have spelled doom for these countries’ nascent democratic regimes and have ushered in new periods of military dominance in politics. The cases of Portugal (1974), the Philippines (1986), and Tunisia (2011), on the other hand, show that the military’s decision not to defend authoritarian leaders against mass protests contributed crucially to the fall of dictatorships and facilitated transitions to democracy. This volume addresses the military’s ambivalent role as "midwife" or "gravedigger" of democracy and highlights the often multi-layered and complex relationship between militaries’ political behaviour and democratization. The chapters were originally published in a special issue of Democratization.

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia PDF

Author: Angel Rabasa

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2002-12-13

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 0833034022

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The military is one of the few institutions that cut across the divides of Indonesian society. As it continues to play a critical part in determining Indonesia's future, the military itself is undergoing profound change. The authors of this book examine the role of the military in politics and society since the fall of President Suharto in 1998. They present several strategic scenarios for Indonesia, which have important implications for U.S.-Indonesian relations, and propose goals for Indonesian military reform and elements of a U.S. engagement policy.

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes