ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why there are different paths of integration of the Armed Forces in the new democratic regime, even though the military in all cases sought to have an institutional role in overseeing the successor regime. The literature on the recent dictatorships of the Southern Cone rightly emphasizes the importance of socioeconomic reform as a rationale for the military government and for repression. The Peronist government that took office in 1973 was ousted by the Armed Forces in March 1976, in the context of a deep economic, social, and political crisis. Immediately after seizing power, the Junta Militar announced the dismissal of constitutional authorities, modified the rules of political competition and the functions of governmental powers, and established regulations for the operation of state institutions. The legal and institutional framework of Chile's transition constrained the first democratic government by legalizing, legitimating, and facilitating continuity of the Armed Forces in the new government.
