State-Military Relations in Brazil
Abstract
Some recent literature on Latin American politics has described how the military-backed authoritarian regimes have used the powers of the state to subordinate and control civilian interest groups through corporatist state structures. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the strategies used by the Brazilian state to subordinate and control the military. A dual strategy of control is described in which the state first seeks to control the individual military officer by emphasizing the traditional military values of hierarchy, discipline, loyalty and patriotism and by selectively employing various coercive and co-optive measures. Secondly, the state seeks to increase its control over the military by restructuring its relationship with the institution in order to centralize and strengthen its formal authority over it. The thesis concludes with the contention that the Brazilian state has succeeded in significantly reducing the political role of the armed forces although this has generated tensions between the state and the military which have placed further strains on military cohesion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 25, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA075942
Entities
People
- Layton G. Dunbar