Democracy and Military Intervention
Democracy
Democracy may be a way of life in the United States but elsewhere in the world it is a foreign concept. As democracy spreads around the globe there are many places where its development has been impeded by the intervention of the military and the establishment of a military dictatorship. But what factors are likely to produce military intervention? Brian Clive Smith, in his book "Understanding Third World Politics: Theories of Political Change and Development" discusses these factors and includes among many such factors as GNP per capita, size of military and/or defense expenditures, and social or religious instabilities. (Smith, 2003) The first factor describes the percentage of the Gross National Product each person receives, the poorer the people, the likelier military intervention seems. Next, because the military often plays a role in politics in third world nations, if the military feels they are being under-represented in the government, and particularly in relations to expenditures, they are likely to intervene in politics. And finally, if the military is forced to play a role in stopping social or religious unrest, it may become...
For instance, in Egypt the military played the role as buffer between the more religious aspects of society and the more secular ones for decades.
Article #1 "In Myanmar, Pro-Democracy Party Meets in Bid to Revitalize."
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been a military dictatorship since 1962 but will soon have its first free elections in decades. Set for 2015, elections will be important for the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (National League for Democracy), a pro-democracy party which is attempting to revitalize itself prior to the elections. Therefore, the party will soon meet to reorganize itself in an attempt to gain a better position in the upcoming elections.
The problem, as described in the article "In Myanmar, Pro-Democracy Party Meets in Bid to Revitalize," is the underlying mistrust between the old guard, who founded the party and have long suffered for it, and the new members, many of whom are defectors from among former supporters of the military government. Many only trust those who have been imprisoned, or have endured torture at the hands of the military.
The party conference, which will…
