Surveying the Military

Abstract

Abstract This chapter presents the results of three original surveys of military personnel in Egypt and Tunisia. The surveys show how each military’s corporate interests, composition, and professionalism shaped their attitudes towards democracy. In Tunisia, majorities felt that Ben Ali had neglected and counterbalanced them, leaving him with their support in the 2011 Arab Spring revolution. The Tunisian military’s gains during under democracy then bred goodwill towards the transitional government. In Egypt, by contrast, majorities saw the military’s interests encroached upon by democracy, fueling support for the 2013 coup. Priming experiments embedded in each survey confirm that the military’s gains and losses from the transition had a causal effect on their support for democracy. Beyond corporate interests, the surveys also show how each country’s coup-proofing strategies altered the military’s composition and professionalism in ways that likewise shaped their responses to the 2011 revolution and crises of 2013.