Bounded Missions

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.

"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.

Booknews

Arceneaux (political science, California Polytechnic State U.) compares five different transitions from authoritarian to democratic government in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay in the last two decades. He contends that the differences between these transitions may be attributed to variations in the internal institutional structure and operation of the military. The volume was originally presented as the author's thesis (1997, Ph.D., U. of California, Riverside). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Craig L. Arceneaux is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. His articles have appeared in Armed Forces and Society, Comparative Political Studies, Bulletin of Latin American Research, and Journal of Political and Military Sociology.