The Soldier and the Changing State: Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas

Zoltan Barany

ISBN 10: 0691137692 / ISBN 13: 9780691137698

Published by PRINCETON UNIV PR, 2012

About this Item

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 .

Seller Inventory # 594883951

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Soldier and the Changing State: Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas
• Publisher: PRINCETON UNIV PR
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691137692
• ISBN 13: 9780691137698
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Soldier and the Changing State 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, Zoltan Barany argues that the military is the most important institution that states maintain, for without military elites who support democratic governance, democracy cannot be consolidated. Barany 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?


Barany 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. He 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, he offers practical policy recommendations to state-builders and democratizers.

About the Author

Zoltan Barany is the Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Centennial Professor of Government at the University of Texas and the author of Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military (Princeton).