Choosing Sides: Military Behavior in Severely Polarized Democracies

<p>Why does severe polarization result in military intervention in some cases but not others? I argue that the organizational culture unique to a particular military plays a critical role in influencing behavioral outcomes in severely polarized democracies. When faced with sovereign power disputes that arise as a result of severe polarization, military organizations are most likely to develop new strategies of action from the dominant practices, norms, and ideas of military leaders. Severe polarization presents a unique threat to civil-military relations and provides the type of unsettled social periods in which cultural ideologies express an observable influence on military behavior. My project takes a theory building approach and uses critical juncture analysis and process tracing to examine severe polarization in three cases: the United States, Venezuela, and South Africa. I find that in each case a common pathway exists in which severe polarization incentivizes civilian elites to attempt to co-opt the military for partisan gain and results in the politicization of the military. As democratic conditions deteriorate, continued severe polarization erodes many of the structural and rational interest-based mechanisms used for constraining military behavior in democracies. Absent these controls, organizational culture is a critical factor in shaping the collective perception of the military and enabling the problem-solving pathways that are available during contentious periods. In other words, severe polarization creates the conditions in which organizational culture exerts an overt influence on military behavior. The unique organizational cultures of each military, and specifically the cultural role beliefs that define the military’s relationship with the state, explain the variation in outcome. In the United States, the military played the role of arbiter at the end of the Trump administration. The South African Defense Force chose to remain neutral amid the end of apartheid and the transition to democracy and the Venezuelan military intervened and attempted to depose the president.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year

2023

Author dc:creator

• Ford, Timothy W.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rachel A. Epstein
• Deborah D. Avant
• Timothy D. Sisk

• Civil-military relations
• Organizational culture
• Severe polarization
• African Studies
• American Politics
• International and Area Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Military and Veterans Studies
• Other International and Area Studies
• Political Science
• Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2272

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3267