Pitfalls of professionalism?: military academies and coup risk

Military academies tend to be strongly linked to the professionalization of the armed forces. This explains why many countries in the world have created such institutions. The following article studies a potential negative externality stemming from military schools: increased coup risk. We argue tha...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Böhmelt, Tobias, Escribà-Folch, Abel, Pilster, Ulrich
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/46771
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46771
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022002718789744
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Civil–military relations
Coup d’état
Military academy
Military professionalism
Descrição
Resumo:Military academies tend to be strongly linked to the professionalization of the armed forces. This explains why many countries in the world have created such institutions. The following article studies a potential negative externality stemming from military schools: increased coup risk. We argue that military academies may create, inculcate, and strengthen cohesive views that could conflict with incumbent policies, and that these schools establish networks among military officers that may facilitate coordination necessary for plotting a putsch. We also contend and empirically demonstrate that these negative side effects of military academies are in particular pronounced in nondemocracies, that is, military academies have diverse effects across regime types. This work has significant implications for our understanding civil–military relations. Furthermore, we contribute to the literature on military education and professionalization, as we suggest that military academies are important vehicles through which coups can emerge predominantly in authoritarian states.