Military Foundations of Panamanian PoliticsThis is a comprehensive examination of the evolution of the politicization of the Panamanian military and the legacy of this transformation in modern Panamanian politics. It addresses the fundamental role that the Panamanian military played in influencing and molding the modern-day Panamanian political system--structurally, legally, and constitutionally--and chronicles the corporate and political growth of the Panamanian military, filtering its analysis through civil-military theory, to achieve its two primary goals. |
Contents
Panamanian Military Politics in Comparative Perspective | 1 |
The Political Growth of the Panamanian Military and the Role of the United States | 23 |
The Praetorianization of the Military | 55 |
The Militarization of Panamanian Politics 19681976 | 71 |
The Legitimization of the Regime The Creation of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático 19781981 | 127 |
The PRD and Panamanian Politics under Noriega To the Abyss and Back | 155 |
A Decade of Change Democratic Consolidation and Uncertainty 19901999 | 181 |
The Military Legacy the Canal and Democratic Panama | 201 |
Appendix | 211 |
Bibliography | 217 |
Index | 231 |
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Common terms and phrases
Amos Perlmutter Ardito Barletta Arias's Aristides Royo Arnulfo Arias Arosemena attempt authoritarian Baloyra Barletta began Canal Zone Central America Chiari corruption country's coup Cuban Revolution democracy democratic Díaz Herrera economic elections elite Endara Ernesto Pérez Balladares forces González Guillermo Huntington influence institution institutionalize intervention invasion isthmus José labor land Latin America Latin American militaries leaders legitimacy manian Manuel Noriega ment Miami mili Military Politics military regime military's modern National Guard National Police negotiations Noriega October officers oligarchy Omar Torrijos Pana Panama Canal Treaties Panama City Panama's political Panamanian military Panamanian politics Partido Revolucionario Democrático percent political party political system politicization populist praetorian PRD's president professional reforms regime's Remón revolution role Samuel Huntington sectors social society structure tary tion Torrijos regime Torrijos's transition U.S. military U.S. presence U.S.-Panama United University of Miami University Press Vice-President Washington World York
Popular passages
Page 28 - The same right and authority are granted to the United States for the maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama and Colon and the territories and harbors adjacent thereto in case the Republic of Panama should not be, in the judgment of the United. States, able to maintain such order.
Page 28 - We would interfere with them only in the last resort, and then only if it became evident that their inability or unwillingness to do justice at home and abroad had violated the rights of the United States, or had invited foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.
Page 127 - All successful men have agreed in one thing, — they were causationists. They believed that things went not by luck, but by law ; that there was not a weak or a cracked link in the chain that joins the first and last of things.
Page 26 - From the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th century, immigration was a major factor in population growth.
Page 55 - Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power...
Page 144 - In politics, again, it is almost a commonplace that a party of order or stability and a party of progress or reform are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life, until the one or the other shall have so enlarged its mental grasp as to be a party equally of order and of progress, knowing and distinguishing what is fit to be preserved from what ought to be swept away.
Page 46 - Communist-inspired and supported or "home grown"; encouraging the armed forces to support and strengthen democratic institutions and to undertake civic action projects which both contribute to the social and economic development of the country and bring the armed forces and civilian populace closer together; and, finally, to develop selected units for possible use in carrying out.
Page 153 - Morris Janowitz, The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait (New York: Free Press, 1960; reprint ed.
Page 156 - In the world of oligarchy, the soldier is a radical; in the middleclass world he is a participant and arbiter; as the mass society looms on the horizon he becomes the conservative guardian of the existing order.
Page 22 - For a historical analysis built around the equilibrium between military power holders and the economic sector, see William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).