AUTOCRATIZATION AND THE MILITARY

Civil-military relations scholarship has long recognized that militaries can play various roles in autocratization processes. Some militaries dismantle democracy themselves by staging a coup; others actively support would-be autocratizers’ efforts to undo democratic rules and institutions. Yet other militaries can stand idly at the sidelines watching democracy unravel, while some actively resist autocratization. To capture this variation, the chapter conceptualizes military roles in autocratization episodes as perpetrators, accomplices, bystanders, and custodians. Evidence from the post-1991 autocratization episodes in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the MENA region shows that all four types are prevalent: while the number of open military interventions has dwindled, militaries have been or still are actively involved in autocratization episodes. At the same time, militaries are not always the driver or willing accomplices of autocratization, but often soldiers simply stand by as civilian political leaders undermine democratic institutions. In rare cases, however, military resistance has helped halt or overcome autocratization attempts.