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Title Role Model or Role Expansion? Popular Perceptions of the Military in Tunisia
Full text https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/8665RK; https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3201566
Date 2021
Author(s) Albrecht, H.; Bufano, M.; Koehler, K.
Abstract <span>This article introduces a theory on military role expansion in emerging democracies and poses a broad question:</span>who<span>wants the military to adopt</span>which role<span>in society and politics? Drawing on an original, nationally representative survey conducted in Tunisia, the article explores people's preferences for the military to remain a security provider or serve in government and contribute to policing protests. Findings reveal that public support for military role expansion is substantial and varies across political cleavages. We test hypotheses to account for cleavages driven by the country's authoritarian past versus partisan divides during Tunisia's transition to democracy. Findings indicate that popular support for military role expansion is driven by anti-system sentiments prevalent in contemporary Tunisian politics: while voters prefer the military as a role model for security provision, non-voters support its enhanced role in politics. These observations have ample implications for the research programs on civil'military relations and the dynamics of democratic consolidation. Tunisia's experience warrants greater attention to anti-system attitudes caused by people's disillusionment with democratic procedures. In turn, authoritarian legacies do not appear to play a prominent role during such challenging transitions toward democratic consolidation.</span> - Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour
Subject(s) military; Tunisia; role expansion; opinion poll; democratic consolidation
Language en
Type of publication Article / Letter to editor; info:eu-repo/semantics/article; Text
Identifier doi:10.1177/10659129211001451; lucris-id:366898561
Repository Leiden - University of Leiden
Added to C-A: 2022-12-14;10:35:19