How Dictatorships Work

How Dictatorships Work

Author: Barbara Geddes

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-08-23

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1107115825

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Explains how dictatorships rise, survive, and fall, along with why some but not all dictators wield vast powers.


The Decline Of Military Regimes

The Decline Of Military Regimes

Author: Constantine P Danopoulos

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-21

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1000315797

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Many generous people deserve special thanks for their assistance in the preparation and completion of this project. I wish to express my gratitude to each of the contributors for agreeing to tackle a difficult and inherently controversial subject. I am only sorry that C.I. Eugene Kim did not live long enough to see the fruits of his labor; he will be sorely missed by all of us who knew him. The Third World and the military do not respond easily to scrutiny by social scientists. Many colleagues and referees read all or part of the manuscript; I am grateful to Professors Richard Lane, Roy Christman, and Bob Kumamoto of San Jose State University and Timothy Lukes of Santa Clara University, who offered numerous helpful• comments. My parents, Panos and Athanasia Danopoulos, my brother George and his wife, Niki, my aunt Areti Paraskevopoulou, and my koumbaro George Nikoletopoulos have provided boundless moral support. Polly Taylor's expert typing and coding made the preparation of the typescript possible. Finally, my wife, Vickie, and our two sons, Panos and Andreas, deserve special thanks for their willingness to endure the long hours that writing and manuscript preparation entail. Though helpful, none of these people bear any responsibility for any problems associated with this volume. Responsibility for the accuracy and scholastic quality of what follows belongs to the contributors and myself.


Dictatorship, Disorder and Decline in Myanmar

Dictatorship, Disorder and Decline in Myanmar

Author: Monique Skidmore

Publisher: ANU E Press

Published: 2008-12-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1921536330

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Mass peaceful protests in Myanmar/Burma in 2007 drew the world's attention to the ongoing problems faced by this country and its oppressed people. In this publication, experts from around the world analyse the reasons for these recent political upheavals, explain how the country's economy, education and health sectors are in perceptible decline, and identify the underlying authoritarian pressures that characterise Myanmar/Burma's military regime.


How to Prevent Coups d'État

How to Prevent Coups d'État

Author: Erica De Bruin

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2020-11-15

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 1501751921

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In this lively and provocative book, Erica De Bruin looks at the threats that rulers face from their own armed forces. Can they make their regimes impervious to coups? How to Prevent Coups d'État shows that how leaders organize their coercive institutions has a profound effect on the survival of their regimes. When rulers use presidential guards, militarized police, and militia to counterbalance the regular military, efforts to oust them from power via coups d'état are less likely to succeed. Even as counterbalancing helps to prevent successful interventions, however, the resentment that it generates within the regular military can provoke new coup attempts. And because counterbalancing changes how soldiers and police perceive the costs and benefits of a successful overthrow, it can create incentives for protracted fighting that result in the escalation of a coup into full-blown civil war. Drawing on an original dataset of state security forces in 110 countries over a span of fifty years, as well as case studies of coup attempts in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, De Bruin sheds light on how counterbalancing affects regime survival. Understanding the dynamics of counterbalancing, she shows, can help analysts predict when coups will occur, whether they will succeed, and how violent they are likely to be. The arguments and evidence in this book suggest that while counterbalancing may prevent successful coups, it is a risky strategy to pursue—and one that may weaken regimes in the long term.


Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military

Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military

Author: Zoltan Barany

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-01-10

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 140082804X

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A rare, behind-the-scenes look at Russian military politics Why have Russian generals acquired an important political position since the Soviet Union's collapse while at the same time the effectiveness of their forces has deteriorated? Why have there been no radical defense reforms in Russia since the end of the cold war, even though they were high on the agenda of the country's new president in 2000? Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military explains these puzzles as it paints a comprehensive portrait of Russian military politics. Zoltan Barany identifies three formative moments that gave rise to the Russian dilemma. The first was Gorbachev's decision to invite military participation in Soviet politics. The second was when Yeltsin acquiesced to a new political system that gave generals a legitimate political presence. The third was when Putin not only failed to press for needed military reforms but elevated numerous high-ranking officers to prominent positions in the federal administration. Included here are Barany's insightful analysis of crisis management following the sinking of the Kursk submarine, a systematic comparison of the Soviet/Russian armed forces in 1985 and the present, and compelling accounts of the army's political role, the elusive defense reform, and the relationship between politicians and generals. Barany offers a rare look at the world of contemporary military politics in an increasingly authoritarian state. Destined to become a classic in post-Soviet studies, this book reminds us of the importance of the separation of powers as a means to safeguard democracy.


The Democratic Coup D'état

The Democratic Coup D'état

Author: Ozan O. Varol

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 019062602X

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The Democratic Coup d'État advances a simple, yet controversial, argument: democracy sometimes comes through a military coup. Covering coups that toppled dictators and installed democratic rule in countries as diverse as Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, and Colombia, the book weaves a balanced narrative that challenges everything we knew about military coups.


Coercion and Governance

Coercion and Governance

Author: Muthiah Alagappa

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 626

ISBN-13: 9780804742276

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This far-ranging volume offers both a broad overview of the role of the military in contemporary Asia and a close look at the state of civil-military relations in sixteen Asian countries. It discusses these relations in countries where the military continues to dominate the political realm as well as others where it is disengaging from politics.


The Military in African Politics

The Military in African Politics

Author: Johns Hopkins University. School of Advanced International Studies

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1987-05-15

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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The concern of this book is with military rulers as political actors in contemporary Africa. Much of Africa has been under military rule during the quarter century since a majority of the countries attained their political independence. Yet studies of military rule have focused on when and how to predict the occurrence of military rule and on distinguishing between military and civilian rule. The concern of the contributors to this volume, by contrast, is the political behavior of officers once in power: how they have ruled; what has been the significance of military rule on the character of political systems in the affected countries; and how problems of regime succession have been addressed by military rulers.--Preface.


Democracy in Retreat

Democracy in Retreat

Author: Joshua Kurlantzick

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2013-03-19

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 030018896X

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DIVSince the end of the Cold War, the assumption among most political theorists has been that as nations develop economically, they will also become more democratic—especially if a vibrant middle class takes root. This assumption underlies the expansion of the European Union and much of American foreign policy, bolstered by such examples as South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and even to some extent Russia. Where democratization has failed or retreated, aberrant conditions take the blame: Islamism, authoritarian Chinese influence, or perhaps the rise of local autocrats./divDIV /divDIVBut what if the failures of democracy are not exceptions? In this thought-provoking study of democratization, Joshua Kurlantzick proposes that the spate of retreating democracies, one after another over the past two decades, is not just a series of exceptions. Instead, it reflects a new and disturbing trend: democracy in worldwide decline. The author investigates the state of democracy in a variety of countries, why the middle class has turned against democracy in some cases, and whether the decline in global democratization is reversible./div


Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil

Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil

Author: Marcos Mendes

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-11-19

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0128019654

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In terms accessible to non-economists, Marcos José Mendes describes the ways democracy and inequality produce low growth in the short and medium terms. In the longer term, he argues that Brazil has two paths in front of it. One is to create the conditions necessary to boost economic performance and drive the country toward a high level of development. The other is to fail in untying the political knot that blocks growth, leaving it a middle-income country. The source of his contrasting futures for Brazil is inequality, which he demonstrates is a relevant variable in any discussion of economic growth. Inequality illuminates causes of seemingly-unconnected problems. This book, which includes freely-accessible documents and datasets, is the first in-depth analysis of an issue that promises to become increasingly prominent. - Contrasting visions of Brazil's future described in economic terms - Easy-to-understand graphs and tables illustrate analytical arguments - All Excel-based data available on a freely-accessible website