THE PROCESSES, STRUCTURES AND ACTORS IN THE DEMOCRATIC  CONTROL OF THE MILITARY IN NEW DEMOCRACIES

Mohammed Lawal Tafida; Rauf Ayo Dunmoye; Nadir Abdulhadi Nasidi

Mohammed Lawal Tafida, Dr Department of Political Science and International Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.
Rauf Ayo Dunmoye, Prof. Department of Political Science, Federal University, Gusau in Nigeria
Nadir Abdulhadi Nasidi, Dr Department of History, at the Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Nigeria

Keywords: Civil-Military Relations, Democratic Control, Military, New Democracies

Abstract

This article identifies and interrogates the conceptual issues surrounding the philosophy of democratic control of the military in new democracies from a liberal-pluralist perspective. Such control aims at curbing the military’s power and aligning it with civilian-crafted defence policies. It is observed that the dominant paradigm neglects the role of societal and external forces in the process of democratic control. Prominence is largely given to governmental institutions notably, the executive, legislature, and to some extent, the civil society. The article employs the comparative, historical, institutional, and structural tools of reconceptualising the theory and practice of civilian control of the military in new democracies. It is argued that democratic control of the military is a multifaceted process involving many actors. These cover legitimated state organs including military leaders, societal or domestic non-governmental forces, and international actors. They exercise respective functions in institutionalising democratic control. The article notes that the trajectory of the democratic control of the military in Africa, Asia, and Latin America depends on inconsistencies in Western influences on the domestic political environments of such states.

Author Biographies

Mohammed Lawal Tafida, Dr, Department of Political Science and International Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.

Mohammed Lawal Tafida is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria. He specialises in international relations, civil-military relations and national security. He co-authored an article with Nadir A. Nasidi titled ‘The Dynamics of Political Transition to Civil Rule in Nigeria, 1998-1999’, which was recently published by the KIU Journal of Social Sciences.

Rauf Ayo Dunmoye, Prof., Department of Political Science, Federal University, Gusau in Nigeria

Rauf Ayo Dunmoye is Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, Federal University, Gusau in Nigeria. He specialises and has mentored several academics in political economy, Nigerian Government and politics, political theory and civil-military relations.

Nadir Abdulhadi Nasidi, Dr, Department of History, at the Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Nigeria

Nadir A. Nasidi is a Lecturer in the Department of History, at the Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Nigeria. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Art History with great interest in West African Islamic Art. Nasidi doubles as a postdoctoral fellow at Meriam Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) and a doctoral fellow, Gerda Henkel Stiftung. He has published widely in both intellectual and art history. One of his recent publications is titled ‘One University, Two Faiths: The Nature and Dynamics of Muslim-Christian Relations at Bayero University, Kano, 1977-2019’ published in Vol. 9, No. 2 of Waikato Islamic Studies Review.