scholarly journals Governance and Recurrent Military Takeover Prospects: A Case Study of Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol IV (I) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
Shaukat ◽  
Zahir Shah ◽  
Afzaal Amin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Agency Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
Central Concern ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Constitutional State ◽  
Military Relations

Civil-military relations in developing countries are at the heart of a central concern of democracy. In Pakistan, the same has not only been turbulent throughout our history; it has also been an uneasy relationship with frequent military interventions. However, in Pakistan military has come to identify itself with the state rather than just one of the key components of a constitutional state. The Agency Theory, based on Principal-Agent relation, has been applied by many to explain the 1999 Musharraf takeover in Pakistan. The intervention is justified on many grounds. But what is more interesting is the fact it is welcomed in a country where people at large long for democracy and cherish democratic ideals.

The Soldier and the Changing State

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltan Barany
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

This is the first book to systematically explore, on a global scale, civil–military relations in democratizing and changing states. Looking at how armies supportive of democracy are built, the book argues that the military is the most important institution that states maintain, for without military elites who support democratic governance, democracy cannot be consolidated. The book also demonstrates that building democratic armies is the quintessential task of newly democratizing regimes. But how do democratic armies come about? What conditions encourage or impede democratic civil–military relations? And how can the state ensure the allegiance of its soldiers? The book examines the experiences of developing countries and the armed forces in the context of major political change in six specific settings: in the wake of war and civil war, after military and communist regimes, and following colonialism and unification/apartheid. It evaluates the army-building and democratization experiences of twenty-seven countries and explains which predemocratic settings are most conducive to creating a military that will support democracy. Highlighting important factors and suggesting which reforms can be expected to work and fail in different environments, the book offers practical policy recommendations to state-builders and democratizers.

Veena Kukreja. Civil-Military Relations in South Asia: Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 1991. 257 pp. Bibliography + Index. Price: Rs 260 (Hardbound).

1992 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105
Author(s):  
Ziaul Haque
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

A quite large number of developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which are today characterised by chronic underdevelopment, general social retardation, slow social mobility, and political instability became highly prone to military interventions in politics in their initial phases of decolonization soon after World War II. These military interventions in the fragile civil polities and stagnant economies, termed by some scholars as the coup zone, are justified and legitimised on various pretexts of modernisation, democratisation, and reform; which means that the military seeks to fill the institutional vacuum when the overall civil administration of the country breaks down as a consequence of the rivalry for pelf and power between various ruling classes. Thus, the military has emerged as the most powerful institution in these countries. Some social revolutions of modern times, in China in 1949, for example, and in Cuba in 1959, were caused by endemic military interventions in the civil society.

Neither Victors nor Victims

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Whetham
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
High Street ◽  
National Survival ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Realistic Goal

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.

Erosion of Civilian Control in Democracies: A Comprehensive Framework for Comparative Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402198975
Author(s):  
Polina Beliakova
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
Intrastate Conflict ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Large N ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
The Military ◽  
New Framework

Civilian control of the military is a fundamental attribute of democracy. While democracies are less coup-prone, studies treating civilian control as a dependent variable mostly focus on coups. In this paper, I argue that the factors predicting coups in autocracies, weaken civilian control of the military in democracies in different ways. To capture this difference, I advance a new comprehensive framework that includes the erosion of civilian control by competition, insubordination, and deference. I test the argument under conditions of an intrastate conflict—a conducive environment for the erosion of civilian control. A large-N analysis confirms that while intrastate conflict does not lead to coups in democracies, it increases the military’s involvement in government, pointing to alternative forms of erosion taking place. Further case study—Russia’s First Chechen War—demonstrates the causal logic behind the new framework, contributing to the nuanced comparative analysis of civil-military relations across regimes.

Civil–Military Relations And Grand Strategy

2021 ◽  
pp. 270-286
Author(s):  
Risa Brooks
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Grand Strategy ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Global Order ◽  
The Core ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Integrated Strategy ◽  
Civilian Leaders ◽  
Military Relations

Civil–military relations affect three major dimensions of grand strategy. They first shape the core principles, or substance of a state’s grand strategy. For example, relations between military and political leaders may determine whether a state is inclined toward a grand strategy that entails significant global commitments and military ventures, one that is revisionist towards the regional or global order, or that is more cautious in its use of military power and foreign interventions. Second, civil–military relations affect the character of a state’s grand strategy. Specifically, they help determine whether a state is able to align its grand strategy’s political, diplomatic, military and economic components, or whether the state instead is prone to pursue a poorly integrated strategy composed of irreconcilable approaches across these different domains. Last, relations between military and civilian leaders influence the execution or implementation of a grand strategy and therefore, whatever its putative merits, whether the state can in fact achieve the promise of the principles they espouse.

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