Governing the Military - by Carlos Solar (Hardcover)

About the Book

Governing the military is an up-to-date study of key contemporary challenges to govern the military and the ongoing successes and failures by post-dictatorship civilians in Chile to reform national defence governance.

Book Synopsis

Governing the military combines the study of governance, democratisation, and policymaking to explore how military politics have unfolded since the return to democracy in Chile. The book offers timely research to understand the rocky road to overcome the civil-military tension of the 1990s and the challenges presented by novel security demands in the twenty-first century, including the militarisation of urban crime and pandemics, and its consequences on human rights. The book will also introduce the reader to failed policies, lack of attention to governance, and decaying democratic practices.

The volume examines eight themes considered fundamental to understand the modern governance of the armed forces: the state of civil-military relations, political transition and military subordination, roles and missions, military effectiveness, fiscal spending, inter-agency challenges, international engagements, and transparency and corruption.

From the Back Cover

How do elected governments deal with the military in the long term after authoritarianism? Today democracies all over the world are experiencing the unavoidable clashes of power between public authorities and those holding the monopoly of force. The enduring problems of civil-military relations mark past, present and future governance relations in uneven and unique ways.
Governing the military unpacks theoretical and empirical manifestations of modern-day governance to sketch the ongoing attempts to legitimise civilian control in Chile since the demise of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. It explores the challenges posed when strengthening subordination mechanisms and imposing control and effectiveness measures over traditional military roles and missions, as well as militarised responses to natural catastrophes and pandemics. The volume presents timely findings for the study of democracy, governance and policymaking while also discussing new developmental demands, human rights and the spread of populism. Collectively, the chapters argue that civilian-led military policies are constructed and managed through the interaction of many institutions. Making, leading and reforming the governance of the military in times of peace is a networked and multi-faceted endeavour.

Intended for a broad readership concerned with the politics and policies of the state and security, Governing the military provides a detailed analysis on pressing military issues, including inter-agency coordination, defence expenditure, transparency and corruption, and international policy engagements.

About the Author

Carlos Solar is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex