Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective

ISBN-10: 0807877034
ISBN-13: 9780807877036
Category: History
Pages: 312
Language: English
Published: 2011-01-20
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Author: Harold A. Trinkunas

Description

Unlike most other emerging South American democracies, Venezuela has not succumbed to a successful military coup d'etat during four decades of democratic rule. What drives armed forces to follow the orders of elected leaders? And how do emerging democracies gain that control over their military establishments? Harold Trinkunas answers these questions in an examination of Venezuela's transition to democracy following military rule and its attempts to institutionalize civilian control of the military over the past sixty years, a period that included three regime changes. Trinkunas first focuses on the strategic choices democratizers make about the military and how these affect the internal civil-military balance of power in a new regime. He then analyzes a regime's capacity to institutionalize civilian control, looking specifically at Venezuela's failures and successes in this arena during three periods of intense change: the October revolution (1945-48), the Pact of Punto Fijo period (1958-98), and the Fifth Republic under President Hugo Chavez (1998 to the present). Placing Venezuela in comparative perspective with Argentina, Chile, and Spain, Trinkunas identifies the bureaucratic mechanisms democracies need in order to sustain civilian authority over the armed forces.

Get the book

Similar books

The Routledge Handbook of Civil-Military Relations
By Thomas C. Bruneau, Carolyn Halladay, Florina Cristiana Matei
This second edition of The Routledge Handbook of Civil-Military Relations offers a wide-ranging, internationally focused overview of the field of civil-military relations.
American Crossings: Border Politics in the Western Hemisphere
By Harold A. Trinkunas, Arturo C. Sotomayor, Maiah Jaskoski
In American Crossings, nine scholars consider the complicated modern history of borders in the Western Hemisphere, examining borders as geopolitical boundaries, key locations for internal security, spaces for international trade, and areas ...
The Routledge Handbook of Civil-military Relations
By Thomas C. Bruneau, Florina Cristiana Matei
Popular films like 2007's Kein Bund fürs Leben—the title itself is a pun on a Bundeswehr recruiting slogan—infuse their slapstick with significance, if not poignancy, by juxtaposing the highly equipped and disciplined US Army with the ...
Soldiers, Politicians, and Civilians: Reforming Civil-Military Relations in Democratic Latin America
By Rafael Martínez, David Pion-Berlin
... Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005); Croissant et al. (eds.), Democratization and Civilian Control ... Soldiers, Politicians, and ...
The Military’s Impact on Democratic Development: Midwives or gravediggers of democracy?
By David Kuehn
... Venezuela: Hugo Chávez y el Bolivarianismo.” 47. Trinkunas, Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela. 48. Corrales, “Using Social Power to Balance Soft Power.” 49. Monaldi, “Oil and Politics in Venezuela.” 50. Corrales and ...
Civil-Military Relations in Latin America: New Analytical Perspectives
By David Pion-Berlin
In Democracia y cuestión militar, edited by E. López and David-Pion Berlin, 147–202. Buenos Aires: Editorial de la ... In Government Violence and Repression, edited by Michael Stohl and George Lopez, 73–95. New York: Greenwood Press, ...
Routes to Reform: Civil-Military Relations and Democracy in the Third Wave
By Aurel Croissant, David Kuehn
... Crafting Civilian Control in Emerging Democracies: Argentina and Venezuela.” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 42: v–109. Trinkunas, Harold A. 2005. Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative ...
Resource Nationalism and Energy Policy: Venezuela in Context
By David R. Mares
... Venezuela en los 90: La crisis de la democracia (Caracas: Ediciones IESA, 1998), 153. 5. “Venezuelan Reforms Favor Oil Work,” Oil and Gas Journal, March 19, 1990, https://www.ogj.com/articles /print/volume-88/issue-12/in-this-issue ...
Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management
By Daniel Moran, James A. Russell
... Venezuela in Final Push for Security Council Seat,” Financial Times, 15 October 2006, http://search.ft.com/ftArticle ... Crafting Civilian Control of the Armed Forces,” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 43/3, Fall 2000 ...
Endgames: Military Response to Protest in Arab Autocracies
By Hicham Bou Nassif
... Military Relations, 1689–2000. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Taylor, William C. Military Responses to ... Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective. Chapel Hill, NC: University of ...