Defense Sector Politics

Abstract

AbstractOwnership and control of defense industrial firms affords the military power, autonomy, and a claim to economic rents. Why do some countries succeed at shifting some or all such firms from military to civilian ownership and control, while others do not? I argue that differing configurations of relative civilian and military coalitional and institutional strength contribute to outcomes. Civilian and military must find party and executive-branch allies who can compete for them to craft or defeat legislation affecting their interests, but coalition building alone is insufficient. Actors must also cultivate executive bureaucratic institutions able to design and implement policies promoting their interests. How coalitions and institutions form, ossify, or fail to develop is assessed through a comparative study of Chile, Argentina (1983–1989), and Argentina (1989–1997).