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A military dictatorship, also known as a military junta, is a dictatorship wherein the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and a dictator is often a high ranked military officer.
A military dictatorship is different from civilian dictatorship for a number of reasons: their motivations for seizing power, the institutions through which they organize their rule and the ways in which they leave power. Often viewing itself as saving the nation from the corrupt or myopic civilian politicians, a military dictatorship justifies its position as "neutral" arbiters on the basis of their membership within the armed forces. For example, many juntas adopt titles such as "Committee of National Restoration", or "National Liberation Committee". Military leaders often rule as a junta, selecting one of themselves as a head.[1]
Occasionally military dictatorship is called khakistocracy.[2][3][4] The term is a portmanteau word combining kakistocracy with khaki, the tan-green camouflage colour used in most modern army uniforms.
Contents
Creation and evolution
Most military dictatorships are formed after a coup d'état has overthrown the previous government.
Military dictatorships may gradually restore significant components of civilian government while the senior military commander still maintains executive political power. In Pakistan, ruling Generals Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (1977–1988) and Pervez Musharraf (1999–2008) have held referendums to elect themselves President of Pakistan for additional terms forbidden by the constitution.
Justification
In the past, military juntas have justified their rule as a way of bringing political stability for the nation or rescuing it from the threat of "dangerous ideologies". For example the threat of communism, socialism, and Islamism was often used. Military regimes tend to portray themselves as non-partisan, as a "neutral" party that can provide interim leadership in times of turmoil, and also tend to portray civilian politicians as corrupt and ineffective. One of the almost universal characteristics of a military government is the institution of martial law or a permanent state of emergency.
Current cases
Country | Past government | Date adopted | Event |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Federal dominant-party presidential republic | April 11, 2019 | 2019 Sudanese coup d'état |
Past cases
Africa
Algeria (1965–1976; 1992–1994; 2019)
Benin (1963–1964; 1965–1968; 1969–1970; 1972–1975)
Burkina Faso (1966–1980; 1980-1982; 1982-1983; 1983-1987; 1987-2014)
Burundi (1966–1974; 1976–1979; 1987–1992)
Central African Republic (1966–1979; 1981–1986; 2003–2005; 2013–2014)
Chad (1975–1979; 1982–1990)
Ciskei (1990–1994)
Comoros (1999–2002)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (1965–1997)
Republic of the Congo (1968–1969; 1977–1979)
Côte d'Ivoire (1999–2000)
Egypt (1953–1956; 2011–2012; 2013–2014)
Equatorial Guinea (1979–1992)
Ethiopia (1974–1987)
The Gambia (1994–1996)
Ghana (1966–1969; 1972–1975; 1975–1979; 1981–1993)
Guinea (1984–1990; 2008–2010)
Guinea-Bissau (1980–1984; 1999; 2003; April 12, 2012 – May 11, 2012)
Lesotho (1986–1993, 2014)
Liberia (1980–1986, 1990–1997, 2003–2006)
Libya (1969–1977; 1977–2011)
Madagascar (1972–1976)
Mali (1968–1992; March 21, 2012 – April 12, 2012)
Mauritania (1978–1979; 1979–1992; 2005–2007; 2008–2009)
Niger (1974–1989; 1996; 1999; 2010–2011)
Nigeria (1966; 1966–1975; 1975–1976; 1976-1979; 1983–1985; 1985–1993; 1993–1998; 1998–1999)
Rwanda (1973–1975)
São Tomé and Príncipe (1995; 2003)
Sierra Leone (1967–1968; 1992–1996; 1997–1998)
Somalia (1969–1976; 1980–1991)
Sudan (1958–1964; 1969–1971; 1985–1986; 1989–1993; 2019–present)
Togo (1967–1979)
Transkei (1987–1994)
Tunisia (1987–2011)
Uganda (1971–1979; 1985–1986)
Venda (1990–1994)
Zimbabwe (2017–2018)
Latin America & the Caribbean
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20200121143323im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Alfredo_Stroessner_Paraguay_stamp.jpg/170px-Alfredo_Stroessner_Paraguay_stamp.jpg)
Argentina (1835-1852;1930–1932; 1943–1946; 1955–1958; 1966–1973; 1976–1983)
Bolivia (1839–1843; 1848; 1857–1861; 1861; 1864–1872; 1876–1879; 1899; 1920–1921; 1930–1931; 1936–1940; 1943–1946; 1951–1952; 1964–1969; 1969–1979; 1980–1982)
Brazil (1889–1894; 1930; 1964–1985)
Chile (1924–1925; 1925; 1927–1931; 1932; 1973–1990)
Colombia (1854; 1953–1958)
Costa Rica (1868–1870; 1876–1882; 1917–1919)
Cuba (1933; 1952–1959)
Dominican Republic (1899; 1930–1961; 1963–1966)
Ecuador (1876–1883; 1935–1938; 1947; 1963–1966; 1972–1979; 2000)
El Salvador (1885–1911; 1931–1982)
Guatemala (1931–1944; 1944–1945; 1954–1957; 1957–1966; 1970–1986)
Haiti (1950–1956; 1956–1957; 1986–1990; 1991–1994)
Honduras (1933–1949; 1956–1957; 1963–1971; 1972–1982; 2009–2010)
Mexico (1835–1846; 1876–1880; 1884–1911; 1913–1914)
Nicaragua (1937–1979)
Panama (1903–1904; 1968–1989)
Paraguay (1940–1948; 1954–1989)
Peru (1842–1844; 1865–1867; 1872; 1879–1881; 1914–1915; 1930–1939; 1948–1956; 1962–1963; 1968–1980; 1992–2000)
Suriname (1980–1991)
Uruguay (1865–1868; 1876–1879; 1933–1938; 1973–1985)
Venezuela (1858–1859; 1859–1861; 1861–1863; 1908–1935; 1948–1958)
Asia
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20200121143323im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Chan_o_cha_Portrait.jpg/170px-Chan_o_cha_Portrait.jpg)
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20200121143323im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Chiang_Kai-shek%EF%BC%88%E8%94%A3%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3%EF%BC%89.jpg/170px-Chiang_Kai-shek%EF%BC%88%E8%94%A3%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3%EF%BC%89.jpg)
Afghanistan (1978–1986)
Bangladesh (1975–1981; 1982–1990)
Brunei (1962)
Burma (Myanmar) (1962–1974; 1988–2011)
Khmer Republic (1970–1975)
Indonesia (1967–1998)
Iran (1953–1957; 1978–1979)
Iraq (1933–1935; 1937–1938; 1949–1950; 1952–1953; 1958–1963; 1963–1979)
Japan (1185–1868; 1931–1945)
South Korea (1961–1963; 1980)
Kuwait (1990)
Kingdom of Laos (1959–1960; 1964)
Maldives (1988–1989)
Pakistan (1958–1969; 1969–1971; 1977–1988; 1999–2008)
Philippines (1898, 1972–1981)
Syria (1949; 1951–1954; 1961–1972)
Republic of China (1928–1946)/Republic of China (Taiwan) (1949–1975)
Thailand (1933; 1947–1957; 1959–1963; 1963–1973; 1977–1979; 2006–2008; 2014–2019)
South Vietnam (1963–1967)
North Yemen (1962–1967; 1974–1977; 1977–1978; 1978; 1978–1982)
Turkey (1913–1918; 1921–1927; 1960–1961; 1971–1973; 1980–1983)
Europe
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20200121143323im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Francisco_Franco_1975_%28cropped%29.jpg/170px-Francisco_Franco_1975_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Bulgaria (1923–1926; 1934–1935; 1944–1946)
Cyprus (1974)
Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1653–1658)
France (1804–1814; 1852–1870; 1870–1871)
Georgia (1992)
German Empire (1916–1918)
Greece (1925–1926; 1967–1974)
Poland (1926–1935, and after his death to 1939; 1981–1983)
Portugal (1926–1933)
Romania (1940–1944)
Russia (1918–1920)
San Marino (1957)
Spain (1923–1930; 1936–1975)
Ukraine (1918)
Oceania
See also
- Military rule (disambiguation)
- Stratocracy
- Films depicting Latin American military dictatorships
- Military junta
- List of political leaders who held active military ranks in office
References
- ^ Cheibub, José Antonio; Jennifer Gandhi; James Raymond Vreeland (April 1, 2010). "Democracy and dictatorship revisited". Public Choice. 143 (1–2): 67–101. doi:10.1007/s11127-009-9491-2. ISSN 0048-5829.
- ^ Dave Gilson (2003-02-02). "Freed from a prison of thought in Nigeria". SFGate. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
- ^ Ikhenemho Okomilo (2005-06-10). "Another October, More Khakistocracy". Nigerians in America. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
- ^ temporal (2007-08-07). "Khakistocracy: Military-Industrial-Feudal Complex in Pakistan". Desicritics. Retrieved 2007-12-15.