Civil-military relations in "Islamic democracies": military intervention & withdrawal in Algeria, Pakistan, & Turkey / Paul Ernest Lenze ; advisor Thomas Preston

Bibliogr. p. 319.324

Ph.D. : Political science : Washington State University, 2011

This dissertation examines civil-military relations in Algeria, Pakistan and Turkey, specifically how military interventions and withdrawals have occurred in these three states. The major questions this project seeks to answer are: why do militaries intervene in politics and why do militaries return to the barracks? These states' militaries use nationalism to justify their interventions in politics while ensuring that withdrawal only occurs if national identity is protected. Nationalism, for the Algerian, Pakistani and Turkish militaries, is used to paper over the ethnic and linguistic differences of regional groups within the state. The use of nationalism by the military is not used to strengthen the Algerian, Pakistani and Turkish nation-state; instead, it strengthens the Algerian, Pakistani and Turkish praetorian state. Using Preston and 't Hart's (1999) bureau-political framework, this study builds upon Schiff's (1996; 2009) concordance theory to measure the level of conflict in the civil-military relationships of Algeria, Pakistan and Turkey. Through a comparison of politicians, the military and society in these states, this dissertation seeks to build mid-range theory to improve our understanding of the persistence of military involvement in politics and enduring authoritarianism in the Middle East and South Asia.