Do Attitudes Matter? The Military and Democratic Consolidation in Greece

Bibliographic Data

ID2342877
AuthorsNeovi M Karakatsanis (0009-0006-0180-6542, The Ohio State University, corresponding author), Neovi Karakatsanis (The Ohio State University)
Year1998
Volume24
Issue2
Pages289-313
Publication date1998-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArmed Forces & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0095327x9702400205
OpenAlexW1978223178
LanguageEN
Citations received5

This article examines the role of the military in processes of democratic consolidation by focusing on the case of the Greek military's extrication from power in 1974. Based on a series of elite in-depth interviews with former and current parliamentary deputies as well as retired military officers, it argues that the initial extrication of the military from power must be viewed as distinct from the issue of permanent withdrawal. Specifically, I find that attitudinal change, not simply behavioral submission to civilian control, is a fundamental condition for long-lasting civilian supremacy. That is, while behavioral support for democracy is adequate in the short term, attitudinal support is a necessary precondition for democratic consolidation in the long run. In sum, this analysis of the Greek military's extrication from power highlights the importance of achieving both behavioral and attitudinal support from the military before a newly democratized regime can be considered consolidated

Consolidation (business) · Democracy · Democratic consolidation · Democratization · Economics · Elite · Military theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Accounting · Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Irish and British Studies · Law

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