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The South American Military and (Re)Democratization: Professional Thought and Self-Perception*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Extract
If a medal were to be struck in commemoration of Latin America's successful survival of the 20th century, la cava might bear a representation of democracy and el sello that of authoritarianism. These alternatives have characterized all attempts to arrive at political consensus for the past hundred years and more.
The current version of the region's perpetual dichotomous nature has been called (re)democratization. In South America it has replaced professional militarism, the most recent representation of authoritarianism, and threatens to affect traditional democratic practices in countries spared the military incursions of the 1964-1989 quarter-century. To the north, (re)democratization challenges both traditional authoritarianism and Marxism-Leninism.
(Re)democratization is a transitional process in which the polity shifts from one with minimal partisan and popular participation back to one based on (ever more maximized) pluralistic participation, usually characterized by meaningful elections, separation of state powers, constitutional order, rule of law, respect for human rights, and civilian regulation of armed force.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © University of Miami 1995
Footnotes
Much of the research for, and writing of, this article took place in Santiago de Chile, Asunción (Paraguay), Berlin (Germany) and London (UK). In grateful appreciation for their time and effort on his behalf, the author wishes to thank the directors and staffs of the Biblioteca Central del Ejército de Chile and the Biblioteca de FLACSO-Chile; the Sección de Publicaciones and Sectión Historia Militar, Fuerzas Armadas del Paraguay (in Asunción); the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin; and the British Library Reading Room and Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, London. Residence in Chile, Germany, and England was made possible by means of sabbatical leave in combination with a Fulbright Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship, granted by the Center for International Education (US Department of Education) for the 1993-94 academic year. The author also expresses gratitude to the four anonymous colleagues who read and commented on the manuscript for the JOURNAL.
An earlier version of this essay was presented as a paper at the XVIII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, in Atlanta (GA), 10-12 March 1994.
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