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The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Volume 20 Article 4

2019

Are American able to successfully democratize?

Lauren Welling St. John Fisher College, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Welling, Lauren. "Are Latin American military dictatorships able to successfully democratize?." The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research 20 (2019): -. Web. [date of access]. .

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Keywords dictatorships, , Latin American ,

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Are Latin American military dictatorships able to successfully democratize? Lauren Welling ABSTRACT Latin American countries have faced difficulties in regards to establishing a successful , as nations have succumbed to military power in the form of dictatorships. This paper will evaluate the patterns of military dictatorships in Latin America, specifically the rise and fall of the in Chile. Furthermore, the factors that enabled democratization will be examined to demonstrate that achieving democracy is possible for Latin American nations.

Democracy is the most popular form of incumbent group replaces him, across the globe due to its and the regime persists. Or, the incumbent resounding approval from world powers leadership group loses control to a different such as the . However, group that replaces it. The latter became achieving a successful democracy in Latin rampant in Latin America throughout the America has proven to be difficult as most and in the form of military Latin American nations have succumbed to dictatorships. Democratic leaders were military power in the form of dictatorships. being overthrown in coups d’états and were What is the likelihood that Latin American replaced by military juntas. A military military dictatorships democratize? I argue is a regime where power was that for military dictatorships to democratize obtained through a coup which is typically the military officials that have achieved enacted with the use of violence against the power must be publicly opposed by the preexisting . The defining feature of the citizens, and the military also must consent is that the highest to leave their positions of power. In this governmental officials have served (or paper, I demonstrate that democratization is continue to serve) in the armed forces and possible in countries where authoritarian the governors are primarily dependent on the regimes exist with evidence that supports the support of the officer corps for the retention notion that only do what is in their of power (Wintrobe). Moreover, the classic best interest when threatened by the means for a to accumulate and mobilization of citizens opposed to their maintain political power over the citizens is authority. The next section reviews the through (Wintrobe). This literature on how others have tried to answer paper will specifically focus on the military this question and offers a path forward to dictatorships in Latin America that have study the concept differently. I then conduct worked toward democratization, particularly a case study, or quantitative analysis before in the case of Chile. concluding with suggestions for future research. If a government becomes unstable, it is not uncommon for citizens to ask their militaries Literature Review to intervene and take over the political power in their country. Generally, According to Barbara Geddes, when the when this occurs the military will/place leader of an autocratic regime loses power, themselves in power without democratic one of three things can happen, the first processes. This method was prominent in being the incumbent leadership group is the era, especially in Latin replaced by democratically elected leaders. America. The typical attributes of a nation Another possibility is that someone from the that was vulnerable to a military coup are a

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weak state authority, imminent foreign military would only serve to weaken the threats, ethnic or sectarian competition for government as the central power to a larger the control of the executive, natural resource extent causing it to be insecure. (Acemoglu, wealth. Recent wars of independence or Ticchi and Vindigni). Furthermore, civil wars may also elevate the military to a economic inequality or ethnic and religious prominent political role and thus enhance divisions determine the form and magnitude capacity for government to intervene of the wide political conflict (Svolik). (Svolik). Usually, that are This was a driving force in Chile as many overthrown by militaries are preceded by were divided in support or opposition eras of turbulence. The issue in Latin to the political ideology of Allende. American nations was that they generally had weak state authorities. The state When militaries acquire a stronghold on authority in Latin America was unable to political power there are a variety of reasons support the social demands of their citizens that they maintain power for extended which ultimately led to dissatisfaction in the periods of time. Primarily, the violent power of the government. overthrow of a totalitarian government in the form of a military dictatorship is a vicious Additionally, in Latin America the challenge cycle (Tesar and Wilson). The most to maintain democracy derives from the fact common method of attempting to overthrow that the military power was able to easily governments in power is in the form of dominate the civilian government . However, the likelihood of long- (Rosenberg). In other words, the militaries term success is rather small if the in Latin America often had more power than “” route is attempted (Tesar the governments themselves. This concept is and Wilson). Additionally, even if the frequently labeled as the civil military revolution is successful, the fall of a dictator problematique. In this circumstance, the is hardly ever accompanied by the fall of the relationship between the (Tesar and Wilson). Therefore, government and the military becomes the system in place that the people are in complicated because without funding for the opposition to does not change in their favor, military, the security of the nation could be despite their efforts. jeopardized. However, if the weak civilian government continues to fund the military it Repression is the technique used by can become a threat to the security of to maintain their authority in politics. democracy. The difficulty for countries in Popular restrictions placed on citizens under Latin America was giving the military military dictatorships are as follows: legitimate power, but also ensuring that it restrictions on freedom of press, the rights of did not become an internal threat to the opposition parties to campaign against the of the nation. Governments that government, and outright prohibition of have no power over their military forces are groups, associations, or political parties easier to overthrow. Likewise, in societies opposed to the government (Wintrobe). The with very high levels of inequality, the common denominator between these society is more likely to be nondemocratic restrictions is that they prohibit the people (either oligarchic or a military dictatorship). from criticizing the government. In the case In these cases, spending more money on the of Chile, the military junta exercised their military would be problematic considering power by condemning people in society that the government is already in a weakened openly spoke out against the country’s environment. Spending more money on the leadership. The junta in Chile is known for

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violating human rights during this era by fallen from power the first issue to be solved torturing and imprisoning people that did not is the solution of what to do with previous support the new government. leaders (Rosenberg). In Chile, Pinochet continued serving in the Chilean military Although repression was an effective after his dictatorship came to an end. This method in oppressing citizens it was not demonstrates the idea that even under effective enough to deter citizens from democracy, military leaders remain secure in overthrowing the military governments. the knowledge that their crimes will be Typically, leaders of military dictatorships judged in friendly military courts or not at are less likely to survive in office than all after their junta ends because the newly leaders of nonmilitary ones (Svolik). This democratic states are too weak to guarantee could be due to the concept that military that the juntas will not return to power dictatorships have a disadvantage at (Rosenberg). With the looming power of a accumulating political loyalty (Wintrobe). possible reemergence of military authority, This is an easy concept to understand as the newly appointed democratic leaders have military-style regimes are not democratically been known to be lenient in regards to elected by the people and the regimes are previous oppressive leaders. Despite being known for repressing the rights of citizens. democratic, nations in Latin America know Countercoups are quite common in military they only remain democratic as long as the governments as citizens attempt to win back military is in support of the democratic power from the nondemocratic regime decisions. Rosenberg argues that trials for (Wintrobe). Countercoups were twice as previous leaders are crucial for democracy’s likely in a military as in a civilian regime, long-term health, but they are seldom and the vast majority of countercoups attempted. She uses the example of the three involve the overthrow of one military military uprisings in that occurred government and its replacement by another when Alfonsin, the new democratic leader, (Wintrobe). As demonstrated previously, attempted to hold trials for his military violent overthrows can start vicious cycles predecessors. The uprisings were enough for which only result in another military Alfonsin to end the trials. The legacy of government taking power. military dictatorships can hamper newly elected democratic officials if the preceding The voluntary transfer of power to civilian regime leaders continue to hold some form regimes has been known to occur, despite of power in society. the violence these regimes face (Wintrobe). Of the 51 military dictators in the world that Case Study: Chile transitioned peacefully to a civilian government, none of them were killed (Ju). In Chile, the military dictatorship came to In comparison, 28 out of 203 military power due to the era of turbulence that dictators were killed when transitioning proceded to military takeover. The power from one dictator to another (Ju). The opposition to the civil government began threat of violence against the military regime after the of ; his ironically leads them to submit to civilian- government was predominantly Marxist and led governments. they were dedicated to changing the economic, political, and social structures in Nations in Latin America have been able to Chile (Valenzuela). Unfortunately, the achieve democracy after military authority. Chilean political environment was extremely It is argued that after a military regime has polarized and there was a large percentage

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of citizens that wanted Allende out of office eliminating any political threats that (Valenzuela). Ultimately, the opposition to continued to exist after Allende’s demise. Allende’s left wing government resulted in a This political climate allowed the Chilean coup d’état by the military. However, this military to violate human rights through the was not without the help of the United States use of mass arrests, torture, forced government which fully endorsed the “disappearances,” and killings (Devine). overthrow of Allende after the Cold War Throughout Pinochet’s reign, the Chilean era. The external support from a world people became disenchanted with his power contributed to the military takeover in authoritarian tactics and wanted to the name of containing . overthrow him. In fact, there was a Despite the United States backing of the consensus among the citizens that the Chilean military junta, the turbulent political president himself had become the chief era leading up to the assassination of obstacle to political normalization, but no Allende was the leading cause in the one believed overthrowing him was worth government overthrow. Citizens throughout the risk (Falcoff). Eventually, the majority Chile wanted to see Allende out of office of the population in Chile was supportive of and they frequently tried to impeach him overthrowing the military junta that had before resulting to force (Valenzuela). Since taken over their government the citizens were unable to overthrow undemocratically. Allende through political processes, they turned to their armed forces to intervene in The mobilization of people against the political affairs. On September 11th, 1973, Pinochet regime is eventually what led to General took over the democratization of Chile after the coup. political office from Allende in a bloody As people began to reject the coup the coup d’etat that was supported by the typical layers of an explosive society began Chilean citizens, although, assume his to emerge. Similarly, citizens started to power democratically as he was not elected speak out about the abuses of the through free and fair . September government; as the issues began to become 11th, 1973 marked the beginning of the public information the citizens of Chile military junta in Chile. gained the support of external forces. O’Donnell and Schmitter stated in After the democratic government was Transitions from Military Rule that in overthrown many people were supportive of “Chile, important groups within the Catholic the Pinochet regime. Initially when Pinochet Church rapidly and firmly commit displaced Allende, people believed that he themselves to those values;” the values they would only remain in power until the are discussing are human rights. This is economy was stabilized (Devine). People especially significant because an external anticipated that Pinochet would eventually group as important as the Catholic Church step down from power and organize endorsing human rights in a predominantly elections for a new president, but instead he Catholic country such as Chile undermines maintained his authoritarian regime for the power of the . The approximately seventeen years. Chilean public lack of support from citizens in Chile citizens did not mind when the military caused the military dictatorship to decide to remained in power and rounded up people democratize the government. People were for interrogations because they feared the driving force in the military stepping extreme leftists (Devine). They believed down from power, but it should be noted Pinochet was reestablishing order and that the military acted in their best interest as

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they were threatened by external groups regimes face threats from citizens they will such as the Catholic Church and United leave their position of power. States which no longer supported them. The military leaders in positions of power began The Chilean junta supports many of the to fear the possibility of a coup against theories discussed in the literature review. them, and therefore opted for a peaceful Furthermore, it is likely that, in the event transition of power. The military stepped that another military dictatorship occurs in down to ensure their own safety and they Latin America, it will probably follow the believed if they chose to appease the people same process that Chile demonstrated. with democratic elections then they might be Ultimately, it would seem by Chile’s able to maintain some form of power. This example that Latin American nations are action led to their downfall as the military able to democratize successfully given that leaders were not reelected. This conveys the the military in power steps down. concept that in circumstances where military

References Acemoglu, Daron, et al. “A Theory of Military Dictatorships.” American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, vol. 2, no. 1, 2008, pp. 1–42 Devine, Jack. “What Really Happened in Chile: The CIA, the Coup Against Allende, and the Rise of Pinochet.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 26–35. Falcoff, Mark. “Chile: Pinochet, the Opposition, and the United States.” World Affairs, vol. 149, no. 4, pp. 183–194. Fitch, John Samuel. The Military Coup D'Etat as a Political Process, , 1948-1966. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977 Geddes, Barbara, et al. “Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions: A New Data Set.” JSTOR, American Association, www.jstor.org/stable/43279909. Huntington, Samuel P. The Soldier and the State: the Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Vintage Books, 1964. Ju, Changwook, and Besher Al Makhlouf. “What Makes Military Dictators Transition Out of Dictatorships?” Chicago Policy Review, 29 Sept. 2017, chicagopolicyreview.org/2017/09/06/what-makes-military-dictators- transition-out-of-dictatorships/. O'Donnell, Guillermo, et al. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain . The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986. Rosenberg, Tina. “Overcoming the Legacies of Dictatorship.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 74, no. 3, 1995, pp. 134–152 Svolik, MIlan W. “Contracting on Violence: The Moral Hazard in Authoritarian Repression and Military Intervention in Politics.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 57, no. 5, 2011, pp. 765–794. Tesar, Jan, and Paul Wilson. “Totalitarian Dictatorships as a Phenomenon of the Twentieth Century and the Possibilities of Overcoming Them.” International Journal of Politics, vol. 11, no 1, pp. 85-100. Valenzuela, Arturo. The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2010. Wintrobe, Ronald. “The Tinpot and the Totalitarian: An Economic Theory of Dictatorship.” The American Political Science Review, vol. 84, no. 3, 1990, pp. 849–872.

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