Term Papers on Military Governments

Term Paper Title	Military Governments
# of Words	1053
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.21

Military Governments

        Charles Aquino
        Political Science
        1/14/97

     Military governments have been around since the days of feudalism.  It
is the oldest and most common political state.  According to Shively, a military
government is one in which a group of officers use their troops to take over the
governmental apparatus and run it themselves.  Military governments are usually
weak in appeasing the masses for they are known to be brutal and power hungry
and are also rather fragile, both internally and externally.
     In its primitive state, existing as feudalism, the high ranking
officials/nobility and the military itself was composed solely of the elite
ruling class.  But as society became more complex, the role of the elite was
slightly altered as technology progressed and the nobility and kings no longer
controlled weapons nor could prevent the disintegration of the feudal society.
     Modern military governments usually occur after the military stages a
coup.  A coup is the forceful deposition of a government by all or a portion of
the armed forces and installation of a new military government.  Coups
ordinarily take place when the present government poses a threat to the state or
the status quo.  Because the military controls more armed power than anyone in a
state, they have the ability to take over the government at any given time.  In
Power and Choice, Shively questions the notion of the infrequency of military
governments.  Yes, they are common, but why aren't they more common?  The reason
being that as societies advance and become more complex, it is necessary for the
ruling elite to be more knowledgeable of the processes by which a government is
operated.  This explains the recurrence of civilian-run governments.  The
military may have a few leaders who are skilled politically, but the armed
forces are not customarily trained to run governments.  Recall that the role of
the military is to protect and serve the state, therefore there is usually a
cycle, known as the Barracks cycle, in which the military brings about a coup,
but later reestablishes civilian control, and is the new state threatens
governmental stability, the military stages yet another coup, etc.  The longer
the military stays in power, the more the political state exists unstably.
     In Nigeria, for instance, numerous military coups were staged between
1966 to 1978.  In 1978, democracy was peacefully reestablished by public
consensus, but five years later democracy fell once more to a military coup.
Military rulers since then have negotiated the possibility of the restoration of
democracy in Nigeria, but efforts have been static and democracy still has not
been established.  Greece was operated by the military from 1967 through 1973.
The military government was maintained for the six years by austere autocratic
measures.  In 1974, the military government was dismissed and democracy was
reinstated.  The use of coercion as means of gaining power by the right-wing
officers was a way for them to attempt the establishment of autonomy.
     The concept of legitimacy in military governments is also questionable.
Other types of governments such as democratic, monarchical, and communist
governments are all legitimized either by the electoral process as the
democratic government is, by the rule of succession as the monarchical
government is, or by Lenin's theory that the Communist party must lead the
revolution.  In all other senses, the military government has no process of
choice and therefore i...

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