The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in PoliticsThe role of the military in a society raises a number of issues: How much separation should there be between a civil government and its army? Should the military be totally subordinate to the polity? Or should the armed forces be allowed autonomy in order to provide national security? Recently, the dangers of military dictatorships-as have existed in countries like Panama, Chile, and Argentina-have become evident. However, developing countries often lack the administrative ability and societal unity to keep the state functioning in an orderly and economically feasible manner without military intervention.Societies, of course, have dealt with the realities of these problems throughout their histories, and the action they have taken at any particular point in time has depended on numerous factors. In the ""first world"" of democratic countries, the civil-military relationship has been thoroughly integrated, and indeed by most modern standards this is seen as essential. However, several influential Western thinkers have developed theories arguing for the separation of the military from any political or social role. Samuel Huntington, emphasized that professionalism would presuppose that the military should intervene as little as possible in the political sphere. Samuel E. Finer, in contrast, emphasizes that a government can be efficient enough way to keep the civil-military relationship in check, ensuring that the need for intervention by the armed forces in society would be minimal. At the time of the book's original publication, perhaps as a consequence of a post-World War II Cold War atmosphere, this was by no means a universally accepted position. Some considered the military to be a legitimate threat to a free society. Today's post-Cold War environment is an appropriate time to reconsider Finer's classic argument.The Man on Horseback continues to be an important contribution to the study of the military's role in the realm of politics, and will be of interest to stu |
Contents
| 1915 | |
The Political Strengths of the Military | 1919 |
The Political Weaknesses of the Military | 1925 |
The Disposition to Intervene 1 Motive | 1932 |
The Disposition to Intervene 2 Mood | |
The Opportunity to Intervene | |
The Levels of Intervention 1 Countries of Developed Political Culture | |
The Levels of Intervention 2 Countries of Low Political Culture | |
The Modes of Intervention | |
The Results of Intervention The Military Regimes | |
The Past and the Future of Military Intervention | |
Bibliography | |
3 Countries of Mimimal Political Culture | |
Other editions - View all
The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics Samuel Edward Finer,Jay Stanley No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
Acción Democrática Algeria American Argentina armed forces army’s Ayub Khan Bakr Sidqi Bétancourt blackmail cabinet civil power civil-military relations civilian authorities civilian government civilian organization civilian régime Colonel command Commander-in-Chief communist constitution countries coup cuartelazo decision Democracy democratic developed dictatorship displacement Egypt Egyptian elections established faction factors favour Finer France French garrison Germany government’s independence influence Iraq Japan Japanese Jiménez junta Kapp Kapp putsch Latin America leaders legitimacy level of political London military intervention military régime military rule military’s motives Nasser nationalist Ne Win Neguib officer corps oligarchy order of political overt Pakistan Paraguay People’s Perón political culture political parties Political Science politicians popular sovereignty President pressure Prime Minister professional provisional quasi-civilianized rebels Reichswehr Republic resign resistance Revolution Rojas social society soldiers South Vietnam Soviet Spain Spanish successful Sudan supplantment Syria threat Tosei-ha traditional troops Turkey Turkish Union Venezuela