Bounded Missions
Subtitle: Military Regimes and Democratization in the Southern Cone and Brazil
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
Published: July 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 262
ISBN-13: 9780271021034
Subjects: Political structures: democracy; Political structures: totalitarianism & dictatorship; Warfare & Defence; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; Politics/International Relations; Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Latin America; Uruguay; Government - Comparative; International Relations - General; Armed Forces; Civil-military relations; Democratization; Military government; Political activity; South America
Description: "Scholars of Latin American politics have been challenged to account for the varied outcomes of the transitions from authoritarian to democratic government that have occurred in many countries south of the border during the past two decades. What explains why some transitions were relatively smooth, with the military firmly in control of the process, while others witnessed substantial concessions by the military to civilian leaders, or even total military collapse?".

"Rather than focus on causes external to the military, such as the previous legacy of democratic rule, severe economic crisis, or social protest, as other scholars have done, Craig Arceneaux draws attention to the important variables internal to the military, such as its unity or ability to coordinate strategy.

Using this "historical institutionalist" approach, he compares five different transitions in Brazil, and three countries of the Southern Cone - Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay - to show what similarities and differences existed and how the differences may be attributed to variations in the internal institutional structure and operation of the military."--BOOK JACKET.