military rule
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What is military rule?
Military rule, also known as a military regime, is a form of government where the military holds significant power. Unlike party dictatorships or monarchies, military rule involves the armed forces controlling the state.
Often arising in developing nations after World War II, military regimes sometimes try to gain public approval through elections or by simulating the rule of law, but they commonly apply military law to civilians and may commit abuses such as torture.
These regimes aren't unified, facing divisions along hierarchical, service branch, class, regional, and ethnic lines, which can worsen when the military is in power. Military rule can promote militarism, with leaders using force to resolve conflicts and demanding military-style discipline from civilian organizations, sometimes leading to opposition. Military rule increases the likelihood of more coups.
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Who usually holds power in a military government?
In a military government, power is typically held by the military, but it is not necessarily a monolithic entity. Power is often concentrated within a hierarchical structure, including the high command, junior officers, and enlisted personnel. Competition and rivalry can occur between different service branches such as the army, navy, and air force.
These divisions can be further exacerbated when the military assumes control, potentially leading to instability if these internal conflicts are not managed effectively. Military regimes often try to manage competition by allocating resources equitably or through monitoring and purges within the armed forces and state.
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How does military rule differ from democracy?
Military rule and democracy differ significantly in their approach to governance and power. Military rule, synonymous with a military regime, is a type of authoritarian regime where the military holds significant power. In contrast, democracy is a system where eligible citizens can participate in the decision-making process, typically through elected representatives.
Military regimes often emerge after a coup, and can involve the application of military law to civilians, extrajudicial repression, and human rights abuses. Though military rule may involve attempts to simulate rule of law, the glorification of war and force in resolving conflicts is common. Democracies, on the other hand, are characterized by free and fair elections, protection of civil liberties, and separation of powers to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
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Why do militaries sometimes take control of a country?
Military control of a country often arises from internal factors within the armed forces, such as perceived violations of military hierarchy, a growing sense of mission, or a heightened sense of threat. Domestic political issues, including intense political, ethnic, or religious conflicts; economic crises; and weak political parties, can also trigger military takeovers.
Militaries, equipped for violence, may struggle to gain genuine consent, often resorting to repression, applying military law to civilians, and extrajudicial actions like torture. Despite being part of the state, militaries possess autonomy due to their control over coercion. Military rule can also foster militarism, which is the glorification of war and military power, with leaders potentially using force to resolve conflicts.
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What are some challenges people face under military rule?
Military rule, a type of authoritarian regime, presents numerous challenges. These regimes often involve extrajudicial repression, such as torture and killings by state security forces. Military dictatorships are known for stifling political dissent, and are typically marked by brutal human rights abuses.
These regimes may try to simulate the rule of law, but often apply military law to civilians. They may also foster militarism, glorifying war and demanding hierarchical control in civilian organizations, which can backfire and stimulate opposition. Divisions within the military itself can exacerbate when it comes to power, and many military regimes have foundered as a result of their inability to manage them.
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Can you name some countries that have experienced military rule and explain what happened?
Military rule is a form of government where the military holds substantial power, often seizing control through coups. These regimes are authoritarian, stifling political dissent and frequently justifying their actions as necessary for national security.
Several countries have experienced military rule:
* Chile: In September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a military coup that overthrew the socialist government of President Salvador Allende. Pinochet's regime was marked by violence, intimidation, and the torture of tens of thousands of political prisoners.
* Argentina: From 1976 to 1983, Argentina's military dictatorship carried out the "Dirty War," resulting in the deaths or disappearances of an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people.
* Nigeria: After a brief period of independence, Nigeria experienced regional stress caused by ethnic competition. In January 1966, a coup led to a military administration. Ethnic tensions and military intervention worsened the political situation.
* Myanmar: In February 2021, military officials seized power, detaining civilian leaders and refusing to accept election results. The junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, has been responsible for numerous detentions and extrajudicial killings.Military regimes often face internal divisions and may foster militarism, glorifying war and military power. While some regimes transition to civilian rule through negotiation or elections, others collapse due to failed ventures or are replaced by similar regimes.
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military rule, political regime in which the military as an organization holds a preponderance of power. The term military rule as used here is synonymous with military regime and refers to a subtype of authoritarian regime.
For most of human history, attaching military to rule would have been redundant, because almost all political regimes in large-scale societies of the premodern period fused military, religious, economic, and monarchical power. The separation of military and civilian powers and the development of professional bureaucratic armed forces in European states in the 18th and 19th centuries gave birth to the contemporary understanding of military rule.
Not all authoritarian regimes involve military rule. In the 20th century the most-repressive nondemocratic regimes, most notably the Nazis in Germany and the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union, were party dictatorships in which civilian control of the military was well established. Other types of authoritarian rule distinct from military rule include traditional (e.g., absolutist monarchies) and personalistic, or “sultanistic,” regimes.
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Since the end of World War II, military rule has occurred almost exclusively in countries of the so-called developing world. Modernization theorists, influential in the 1950s and ’60s, were initially confident that the newly independent nations of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia (as well as Latin America) would evolve into capitalist democracies, with civilian control over the military. Those expectations were dashed by a wave of military coups d’état that reached its height in the 1960s and ’70s.
Origins of military rule
Analyses of the circumstances that lead to the rise of military rule abound. Empirical studies suggest that there is no direct correlation between the size of the military or its budget and its propensity to seize power. Further, the reasons for hierarchical coups (led by the high command) tend to be different from those for coups led by junior officers (those with the rank of, or equivalent to, army captain or below). Rather more useful is the distinction between factors internal to the armed forces, domestic political variables, and international influences. In the first category, violations of military hierarchy by civilian politicians, an expansion of the military’s capacity or sense of mission, and a heightened sense of threat can all trigger coups. With regard to domestic politics, high degrees of political conflict (especially ethnic and religious conflict), economic crises, weak political parties (especially right-wing parties), and low-capacity state institutions have been observed to precede military takeovers. Significant in that category is also the image of the military in national politics and, in particular, the degree of popular identification of the military with certain positive national values. Internationally, the threat of or defeat in war, foreign political and military assistance, and an enabling international environment, including military rule in neighbouring countries and international recognition of military regimes, can facilitate coups. A “cascade effect” has been observed in some regions, whereby military rule, first established in a single country, occurs elsewhere in subsequent years, leading to cooperation between military regimes. (For example, the 1964 coup in Brazil was followed by a coup in Argentina in 1966, coups in Chile and Uruguay in 1973, and another coup in Argentina in 1976.)
Superpower competition was likely an important factor in the proliferation of military regimes seen during the Cold War. Large amounts of military assistance from the United States and the Soviet Union strengthened military capacity within allied or “client” states. Within the U.S. sphere of influence, the increased emphasis on internal security threats in the wake of the Cuban Revolution (1959) contributed to an increase in direct military involvement in politics. Since the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, there has been a marked decline in the number of military regimes in the developing world.