ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the origins, evolution and nature of military influence in South America. It also examines the evolution of the military's role in establishing and maintaining state authority. The chapter analyses the development of the military in Latin America in the context of its influence on South American societies. It argues that understanding military governance is crucial to understanding the development of the South American states, and continues to be so into the twenty-first century despite the return of democracy in the 1980s. The chapter also argues that its political influence still shapes the institutional strength of the contemporary state. The armed forces are the principal – although not the only – institution that provides the state the ability to exercise legitimate force. The privileges tend to constrain civilian control over the military and undermine democratic governance by limiting the spheres of political and institutional authority exercised by elected governments.
