- Record: found
- Abstract: found
- Article: found
What does the ‘militariat’ do when it rules? military regimes: the Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia
Abstract
A significant group of military interventions, especially in West Africa, has been carried out not by disaffected senior officers, but by junior officers and NCOs ‐ the militariat, occupying a class position within the army analogous to the working class within society as a whole. Such interventions are directed as much against the senior officers as against the political elite to which they are closely linked by clientelist ties. Despite this, and the populist rhetoric adopted by the militariat when first in power, the regimes they install have failed to adopt social transformative goals, or create new mobilisational political structures.
Comparison of Liberia under the PRC (1980–89), Sierra Leone under the NPRC (1992–96) and the Gambia under the AFPRC (1994) shows that instead the regimes are marked by violence and instability, and in two cases by the outbreak of civil war. Corruption and human rights abuses have been commonplace, and the regimes have failed to strengthen state capacities, to restore military discipline, or to create new social and political institutions. This underpins their reluctance to relinquish power voluntarily. These characteristics are attributed to the lumpen culture of the militariat, to its subversion of military discipline, and to the decay of political and social institutions under the precursor regimes. As the Gambia suffered to a lesser degree from all three of these, it shares the features of the militariat to a lesser degree than Liberia or Sierra Leone.
Content
Author and article information
Bibliography
Agyeman O. . 1988. . ‘Setbacks to political institutionalization by praetorianism in Africa’. . Journal of Modern African Studies . , Vol. 26((3)): 403––435. .
Allen C. . 1995. . ‘Understanding African Polities’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 65:: 301––320. .
Amnesty International. . 1995. . Human Rights Abuses in a War Against Civilians .
Bienen H. . 1985. . ‘Populist military regimes in West Africa’. . Armed Forces and Society . , Vol. 11((3)): 357––377. .
Clapham C. . 1989. . “‘Liberia’. ”. In Contemporary West African States . , Edited by: O'Brien D. . Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Conteh‐Morgan E. . 1994. . “The Military and Human Rights in a Post‐cold War Africa’. . Armed Forces and Society . , Vol. 21((1)): 69––87. .
Finer S. . 1974. . ‘The Man on horseback’. . Armed Forces and Society . , Vol. 1((1)): 5––27. .
Ellis S. . 1995. . ‘Liberia 1989–1994: A study of ethnic and spiritual violence’. . African Affairs . , Vol. 94((375)): 165–198
Huntington S. . 1968. . Political order in changing societies . , New Haven : : Yale University Press. .
Hutchful E. . 1984. . ‘Trends in Africa’. . Alternatives . , Vol. 10((1)): 115––137. .
Khadiagala G. . 1995. . “The military in Africa's democratic transitions’. . Africa Today . , Vol. 42((1–2)): 61––74. .
Liebenow G. . 1986. . “The military factor in African politics: a twenty‐five year perspective’. ”. In African Independence: The First Twenty‐Five Years . , Edited by: Carter G and O'Meara P. . Bloomington : : Indiana University Press. .
Lonsdale J. . 1986. . “‘Political accountability in African history’. ”. In Political Domination in Africa . , Edited by: Chabal P.. Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Luckham R. . 1994. . ‘The military, militarization and democratization in Africa: a survey of literature and issues’. . African Studies Review . , Vol. 37((2)): 13––76. .
Opala J. . 1994. . ‘Ecstatic revolution: street art celebrating Sierra Leone's 1992 Revolution’. . African Affairs . , Vol. 93((371)): 195––218. .
Reno W. . 1995. . Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Sawyer A. . 1987. . Effective Immediately: Dictatorship in Liberia 1980–1986 . , Liberia Working Group. .
Sesay M. . 1995. . ‘Civil War and Collective Intervention in Liberia’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 67:: 35––52. .
Skinner E. . 1988. . ‘Sankara and the Burkina revolution: charisma and power, local and external dimensions’. . Journal of Modern African Studies . , Vol. 26((3)): 437––455. .
Welch C. . 1983. . ‘Military disengagement from politics: lessons from West Africa’. . Armed Forces and Society . , Vol. 9((4)): 541––554. .
Zartman I W. , ed. 1995. . Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority . , Boulder : : Lynne Rienner. .