Democratic Transitions and the Military: Evidence from Spain and Turkey
Democratic Transitions and the Military: Evidence from Spain and Turkey

Summary/Abstract: Democratic transitions may have unintended consequences. Modes of transition exert significant influence on post-transition outcomes. Here, I focus on two most similar cases; Spain and Turkey, included in the ‘Third Wave of Democratization’. After an evaluation of critical junctures by using Croissant, Kuhn, Chambers and Wolf (2010)’s framework, I argue that civil-military relations during transitions are key to explain post-transitional outcomes. The extent to which military power was influential in transitional decision making creates a long-lasting impact for the political regimes. Hereby, I recall the importance of a comparative analysis of historical cases to develop an understanding of emerging democracies in an era of democratic decline.

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