The military and the consolidation of democracy: The recent Turkish experience

Turkey's recent success in dealing with the threat of political Islam witho ut the military taking power into its own hands cannot be explained by eith er of the two contending theories about the military's role in the consolid ation of democracy, that of the "mode-of-transition" or that of "electoral dynamics." Following the transition to democracy, officers in Latin America have evinced politically elite characteristics and have been in a tug of w ar with civilian politicians; officers in Eastern Europe have shown non-eli te (professional) characteristics and have been subordinated to civilian po liticians; officers in Turkey, not unlike their counterparts in France and Germany of earlier decades, have displayed state-elite characteristics and maintained their privileged position in the polity. Thus, while it is possi ble to use the dichotomy of politicized versus professional militaries to e xplain the fortunes of democracy in Latin America and Eastern Europe, respe ctively, in Turkey it is necessary to analyze the factors determining the o rientation of officers toward democracy.