Customer Reviews

Soldiers in Politics: Military Coups and Governments (Prentice-Hall contemporary comparative politics series)

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When Nordlinger first wrote this book in the late 1970s, it broke much ground by treating military regimes as objects of serious, objective study, rather than subjective criticism. However, after 35 years, the book does seem dated. For one thing, Nordlinger makes many broad theoretical claims without much supporting evidence. Also, the book focuses heavily on legitimacy, which has fallen out of favor in political science.

Most disconcerting is the lax treatment of case studies. Nordlinger mentions many examples of military juntas, but doesn't really seem expert in any of them. For example, he mentions the fact that the Burmese military stepped down from power in 1960 as evidence of the fact that military officers generally tire of civilian administration. However, unmentioned is the fact that the military retook power just 2 years later and has been in power ever since. So much for tiring of governance!

Still, for students of military regimes, this is a useful and very quick read. Nordlinger's classifications and degrees of military regimes have proven very useful and provide a foundation for much interesting research.